Tuks's Rikenette Steenkamp could be the unluckiest athlete not to represent South Africa at the World Championships (27 September to 6 October) in Doha. 

Friday was the last day on which athletes could qualify. Steenkamp came oh so close to doing so in the 100m-hurdles racing in Andújar, Spain. She finished second in13.02s. It is a season's best for her. Indicating she is on the verge of breaking the 13-second barrier, which is generally considered to be the milestone when competing internationally.

The reality, however, is that the Tuks-athlete missed the IAAF B-qualifying standard by 0.04s. The A-qualification standard is 12.77s. Steenkamp's best time is 12.81s which she ran last year.

Only four female athletes have qualified for the championships in Doha.  Dominque Scott (14:59.08 - 5000m), Carina Horn (11.01s - 100m) and Tebogo Mamathu (11.04s -100m) are the only ones to have complied with the A-qualification standards. Scott also set a B-qualification time running  31:43.18 in the 10 000m while Zeney van der Walt's season-best time of 55.73s in the 400m-hurdles is also a B-qualifier.

Caster Semenya is currently ruled out due to the ongoing legal challenge of regulations that prevent her from defending her 800 metres world title without taking hormone blockers.

Steenkamp is currently Africa's second-fastest 100m-hurdler for the season. Only Nigeria's Tobi Amusan (12.49s) is faster. In light of it, there might be a slight chance that she could get the nod to compete in Doha.

In a study done at the University of Pretoria in which the factors contributing to gender inequality in athletics participation was explored, it was found that between 2007 to 2018 a total of 306 athletes (228 male and 78 female) represented South Africa at various senior international competitions. It equates to 74.6% of the national team being male and only 25.4% female. Of the 40 medals won in this period, 18 were due to the heroics of the female athletes. 
                       
It was concluded that a lack of talent is not the reason why so few female athletes get to represent South Africa. The problem is that there is no specific strategy in place to ensure that young athletes don't quit before they get to fulfil their true potential.

Steenkamp admits to being disappointed about missing out on qualifying for the World Championships but she also able to take the positives from her performances. 

"I had to overcome injury setbacks on three occasions this season, which led to me spending quite a lot of time doing rehabilitation exercises. Still, I was able to consistently run times between 13.25s and faster.  What is exciting is that I was getting faster in each of my last five races. My time of 13.02s suggests if I had the opportunity to race one more time, there is a real chance of dipping under 13 seconds."