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Reigning Under-20 400m champion Udeme Okon used the Curro Hazeldean Podium High School Championships as a warm-up for the upcoming Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) provincial championships next month.
The 19-year-old Florida High School Grade 12 learner stormed to victory in 31.83 seconds, finishing ahead of former national 200m champion Sinesipho Dambile (32.95) and Mthi Mthimkulu (33.12).
Okon says he needed this race to assess his form ahead of the regional competition at Germiston Stadium.
"I can say speed where I can accelerate and deaccelerate, just testing out my body and see where I can push myself in the 400m. Of course, it's a test ground, I got also new spikes so just testing the new spikes out and opening the season up strong,” Okon said.
“I didn't wanna come up here and just run a slow time. I wanted to see how hard I worked in December and see if that's paying off."
Okon, who has been coached by Lyle Wintzel for the past two years, is preparing for a demanding season that includes the Athletics South Africa (ASA) Senior Track and Field Championships, the World Championships in Tokyo, and the World Student Games in Germany later this year.
The 19-year-old has been training consistently with his coach throughout December and believes he is well-prepared for the upcoming season.
With his sights set on the World Championships in Tokyo, he aims to be in peak condition for the competition.
"I am in good condition but obviously there's still more to come. The season is still starting, there's still training sessions that happen even while the season starts so I'm just gonna be pushing hard and get myself in the best form I can get myself into,” he added.
“Obviously the big target that we have and what I've been training for are the World Champs in Tokyo. These other competitions, we'll see if the body is in good condition. For now, we'll just focus on one goal which is going to Tokyo, a good mindset, physically and mentally."
