{"id":378927,"date":"2026-08-15T04:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T04:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/378927\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T04:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T04:52:11","slug":"rising-athletics-star-set-for-south-africa-debut-in-zimbabwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/378927\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising athletics star set for South Africa debut in Zimbabwe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa (COSSASA) Games in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, later this month will mark a significant milestone in sprint hurdler Gemma Rigele\u2019s burgeoning athletics career.<\/p>\n

Rigele will cap a remarkable season by making her South African debut when she represents the country at the regional schools competition from August 31 to September 3.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gemma Rigele won the U18 girls\u2019 400m hurdles title at the SA schools track and field champs. Photo: Lebohang Pita<\/p>\n

The Benoni Northerns Athletic Club (BNAC) junior athlete has enjoyed a breakthrough year, earning colours for both club and school and establishing herself as one of the promising young hurdlers in the country.<\/p>\n

Her season reached new heights at the ASA track and field championships, where she reached the U18 women\u2019s hurdles final and finished seventh.<\/p>\n

She then produced the performance that has arguably defined her season when she dipped under a minute for the first time to win the U18 girls\u2019 400m hurdles title at the SA Schools Championships at Pilditch Stadium in May.<\/p>\n

Rigele clocked a personal-best 59.95 to achieve a goal she had set for herself after only taking up hurdles at the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis latest achievement, along with winning SA Schools, is my biggest one yet and has helped me to gain confidence in my athletics career and to own my spot on the track,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Also Read:\u00a0Rigele enjoys breakthrough season with three medals at champs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal this year was to qualify for SAs, as I had always dreamed of competing at a national level. I still remember holding back tears as I walked back to my dad on the side of the track with my green letter saying I had qualified for SA Schools \u2014 and look where I am now.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to represent South Africa while doing what I love is a dream come true, and it\u2019s just the start of my hurdles and track journey, where I can make a name for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Central Gauteng teenager described her performance at the schools championships as the one she is most proud of this season.<\/p>\n

The victory added to her 400m hurdles gold at the CGA Championships, where she also collected bronze medals in the 400m flat and high jump.<\/p>\n

\u201cI smashed my PB and proved that I can go sub-60. Coming down the last straight, I couldn\u2019t help but smile \u2014 all my hard work and tough training sessions had paid off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing my parents and my teammates screaming my name will forever be a memory I hold close to my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, with the opportunity to don the national colours for the first time, the St Dunstan\u2019s College learner is setting her sights on a podium finish in Bulawayo.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goals for the COSSASA Games are to hopefully medal and to run a personal best,\u201d said Rigele.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently I have been ill and playing hockey for school and for Northerns, so I am training hard to bounce back into my racing form and give my absolute best in Bulawayo.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she prepares for her biggest international opportunity yet, Rigele credited coach Michael van Aswegen and her family for playing a crucial role in her rapid progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love making them proud, and I immediately look for them in the stands after the finish line,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAt Caxton, every story is written by humans. We use AI only to perform quality checks – never to generate the news. Happy reading!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa (COSSASA) Games in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, later this month will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[60],"tags":[81604,81605,302,3263,15456,3753,310,106],"class_list":["post-378927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-zimbabwe","tag-bedfordview","tag-bedfordview-news-headlines","tag-breaking-news","tag-local-news","tag-local-sport","tag-news-headlines","tag-sport","tag-zimbabwe"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117097735846250563","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}