Rikenette Steenkamp proved that you cannot keep a good woman down when she won the women’s 100m-hurdles in a time of 13.23s during the recent AGN League 5 Championship at the Bestmed TuksAthletics Stadium.

Even though the wind from behind was slightly too strong, she could not help but smile. The South African record holder had good reason to do so. It was only her third race of the season. In January, she tested positive for COVID-19. 

"2021 is without a doubt the most challenging year of my athletics career, and believe me; I had to overcome some considerable challenges in the past. There were times I wondered if I ever would get to race again. I would think I had recovered and started to train. Two weeks later, I would be sick again. I suffered ailments I have never heard of. I am not sure whether it was all to do with COVID."

Steenkamp first raced in April during the South African Championships at Tuks. Her race definitely did not play as she had hoped. She ran 13.74s during the heats. Her heart rate was sky high afterwards. A cardiologist advised her to refrain from doing any physical exercise for three weeks.

According to Steenkamp, she only did one complete set of hurdles during training before she raced. 

"I only had one goal, and that was to survive-face my fears. I was second running 13.61s. It was the ice breaker I needed as I was more confident on Saturday." 

The Tuks-hurdler is planning to race again in Potchefstroom but she has not set her sights on any specific time. For now, she is happy to be on track doing what she loves. That is to race the 100m-hurdles. 

"The one thing I am proud of is that I stuck it out through my whole ordeal. I think if I had quitted athletics, I would have regretted it."

2016 was also a year of immense frustration for Steenkamp. She would race and then be in so much pain that she had to take a break. Then, she was diagnosed as having an extra bone in her ankle. The only solution was to have the bone surgically removed. 

As part of the rehabilitation process, Steenkamp was confined to bed rest for six weeks. She had to relearn how to walk correctly again. A year later, she became only the second South African athlete to dip under 13 seconds. In 2018, she set a national record running 12.81s. The Tuks athlete also holds the South African 60m-hurdles record (8.17s).