Beijing – After facing Usain Bolt in three major 200m finals – two world champions and the Olympics Games – Anaso Jobodwana has finally shared the podium with the Jamaican star.
In finishing third in a new national record 19.87 seconds for a bronze medal today, the 23-year-old handed Team SA its second gong in less than 24 hours at the ongoing IAAF World Championships.
This after Wayde van Niekerk delivered the gold from the 400m final yesterday.
Bolt took the race in 19.55 seconds with American Justin Gatlin grabbing silver in 19.74 seconds ahead of Jobodwana who bettered the 19.94 seconds that Van Niekerk set only last month.
“My coach said If I execute the race the best way that I can, I will be on the podium. And when I was running that’s all I thought of: podium, podium, podium,” said Jobodwana.
“I could have been foolish not to win a medal because I came here in the form of my life and I saw in the semifinals that everything we’ve been working on with my coach [Stuart McMillan] had come together. The race is always elevated when Bolt is in the race. It’s a great thing just feeling the power of the world record holder.”