Zakithi Nene

Last updated

Zakithi Nene
Personal information
NationalitySouth African
Born (1998-04-02) 2 April 1998 (age 27)
Ladysmith, South Africa
Sport
Sport Track and Field
Event 400 m
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
World Relays
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2025 Guangzhou 4×400 m relay
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2024 Nassau 4×400 m relay
Summer Universiade
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2019 Naples 4×400 m relay
African Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2018 Asaba 4×400 m relay

Zakithi Nene (born 2 April 1998) is a South African sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres.

Contents

Career

He won the South African 400m national title in 2021 and qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics through his world ranking. [1] He competed in the 400 metres where he ran a time of 45.74 seconds. [2]

He ran as part of the South African 4x400m relay team which qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas. [3] He finished third in the 400 metres at the 2024 BAUHAUS-galan in Stockholm on 2 June 2024. [4]

He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics over 400 metres in August 2024, reaching the semi-finals. [5] [6] He also competed in the men's 4x400m relay at the Games. [7]

He was selected for the South African relay pool at the 2025 World Athletics Relays in China, where he was a gold medalist in the Men's 4 × 400 metres relay, running the anchor leg and splitting 43.64 in the final as the South African team set a new national record of 2:57.50 in May 2025. [8] [9] [10] [11] Later that month, he ran 44.46 seconds to finish runner-up to Jacory Patterson in the 400 metres at the 2025 Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat, part of the 2025 Diamond League. [12] He ran a new personal best of 43.76 seconds to win the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on 31 May 2025. [13] He was runner-up in the 400 metres at the Diamond League event at the 2025 Golden Gala in Rome on 6 June 2025. [14] He finished third in the 400m in 44.29 seconds at the 2025 London Athletics Meet. [15]

Personal life

He studied economics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in his native South Africa. [16]

References

  1. "Ballito's 400m Olympian Zakithi Nene prepares to race in Tokyo". 29 July 2021.
  2. "Athletics - Round 1 - Heat 2 Results". olympics.com.
  3. "4X400 METRES RELAY". World Athletics. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  4. Johnson, Robert (2 June 2024). "2024 Stockholm Diamond League Results – 2024 Bauhaus Galan Results". Letsrun. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  5. "Men's 400m Hurdles Results - Paris Olympic Games 2024 Athletics". Watch Athletics. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  6. "More SA athletes for Paris Olympics announced". SuperSport. 19 June 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  7. "Men's 4 x 400 Metres Relay - Paris Olympic Games 2024 Athletics". Watch Athletics. 10 August 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  8. "South Africa select a team of 19 for World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25". Athletics.Africa. 1 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  9. "World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25: South Africa and Spain upset favourites in men's and women's 4x400m finals". Olympics.com. 11 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  10. "USA, Spain and South Africa claim 4x400m titles in Guangzhou". World Athletics. 11 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  11. "FINAL | 4x400 Metres Relay | Results | Guangzhou 25 | World Athletics Relays". worldathletics.org. Archived from the original on 1 June 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  12. "Chebet storms to second on world 3000m all-time list with 8:11.56 in Rabat". World Athletics. 25 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
  13. "Nene smashes 44-second barrier in Nairobi". World Athletics. 31 May 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  14. "Chebet goes No.2 all time with 14:03.69 5000m in Rome". World Athletics. 6 June 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  15. "Alekna, Alfred and Tsegay take down meeting records in London". World Athletics. 19 July 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  16. "Athletics NENE Zakithi - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". olympics.com.