Prudence Sekgodiso plays down her Olympic Games medal prospects

Displaying remarkable composure, Sekgodiso secured her spot in the semifinals, which takes place on Sunday by finishing second with a time of 1:59.84 seconds, trailing Cuba’s Gasper Cooper, who clocked in at 1:58.88 seconds to claim one of the three automatic qualification spots in each heat.

Sekgodiso wants to enjoy the experience without being burdened by the pressure of winning a medal.

"You know I am just ignoring everything, I'm just gonna be myself and try to be in the final and I don't wanna give anyone any false hope to be in the final or make it to the podium, I don't wanna give anyone that [hope]," Sekgodiso said.

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Sekgodiso entered the race with a clear objective – to secure a top-three finish and thus avoiding having to compete in the repechage on Saturday.

Her primary focus was not on her running a fast time, but rather on qualifying for the semifinal.

"I'm just happy everything went according to plan to be in the top three, not to run the repechage the next day and yeah, things went according to plan and I'm just excited. I want to be in the top three, just to make it to the final, nothing much, no time, nothing. Just to be in the top three," she added.

Sekgodiso has competed in two world championships and participated in Diamond League events as well as various other international competitions.

However, this was her debut at the Olympics, and she admits that racing in front of a sold-out crowd made her nervous

"It was amazing the moment I stepped on the track, seeing the crowd, I was not nervous before but the moment I stepped in I just started getting nervous but you know what, I just started telling myself that you know you got this, you gotta push and don't mind the crowd and that's what I did."