Long-distance runner Cacisile Sosibo is looking forward to showing what she is capable of when she competes at the 46th World Athletics Cross-Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, on Saturday.
The 28-member SA national team left on Wednesday for the event, and they are confident of putting up a fight on Saturday.
They will compete in the senior men’s and women’s 10km races, as well as the U20 men’s 8km contest, the U20 women’s 6km event and the senior 4x2km mixed relay.
Sosibo joins Karabo Mailula, Kyla Jacobs, Cian Oldknow and Zanele Maisa in the senior women’s 10km team.
“I’m not putting pressure on myself because when we run, anything can happen. We are competing against speedy runners,” Sosibo said before the team left for Florida on Wednesday.
“I’ve raced on tough courses before, like in Australia and in Belgrade, where I was placed 40th. My goal is to improve my performance against strong competition. Cross-country is difficult, but I want to learn and see how it helps me grow as an athlete.”
Sosibo said she did her best in preparing and was sure that the team would try their hardest to bring back medals.
“I can’t really speak for the whole team because everyone prepared differently with their coaches,” she said.
“I know that on my side, I did my best. In cross-country, team results are significant because if one runner finishes outside the top 100, it affects everyone.”
Sosibo views cross-country as a more demanding test of endurance compared to running the Spar 10km Women’s Race, the Absa Run Your City and the Hollywoodbets races.
“This competition is very important — cross-country is the most difficult discipline, running through water, on grass and on uneven terrain.
“My season will really start to take shape once I return from America. That’s when I’ll shift focus to track and road races and plan my year properly.”
Sowetan
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