'I'm really excited to see what's gonna happen' - Rogail Joseph upbeat about 2025 after amazing 2024

After a fantastic 2024 season which included an Olympic debut and gold medals at the African Championships and All-Africa Games, Rogail Joseph is upbeat about the season the ahead. In an absolutely astounding run of form, the 23-year-old from Worcester in the Western Cape ran seven of the fastest times of her 400m hurdles career last year as she broke both the 56 and 55 second barrier for the very first time.

Having qualified for her maiden Olympics after finishing second in a thrilling battle against victor Zeney Geldenhuys at the Athletics South Africa Senior Track and Field Championship in April, the North West University student went into the Games as somewhat of an unknown quantity. But as thousands from her Western Cape hometown watched the action in Paris on their television sets, Joseph stunned the world by setting a 54.56 personal best in her heat to qualify for the semi-finals where she finished in third place. Although she produced a lifetime best 54.12 at the State de France on the 6th of August, she sadly missed out on a place in the final by less than two tenths of a second.

Joseph in action at #Paris2024. Photo Credit: SASCOC Media.

"In that moment I was really disappointed, but after a day when I realised what a good race I had, I was really proud of myself," she told #TheTopRunner. "To think that for your first Olympics you run PB’s from the heats to the semi-finals is really something amazing. Not everyone can do that because a lot of athletes that go the Olympics struggle and don't really make the semi-finals. So for me to go to the semi-finals and run it like I have a lot of experience when I don’t was amazing."

Returning home during her off-season in September, the 2019 African U20 100m and 400m hurdles champion was greeted with a heroes welcome after that groundbreaking performance. "I just went home for two days because they had a welcome back party for me. It was crazy! I didn’t expect that but the whole of my hometown was there and that was so surprising."

Geldenhuys and Jospehs to head-to-head in the final of the women's 400m hurdles at the 2024 ASA Senior Track & Field Championships. Josephs running in the green of Athletics Central North West took second place in what was the very first sub 55 second clocking of her career. Photo Credit: Cecilia van Bers.

Buoyed by the tsunami of support and self-belief that her tenth place finish earned her (Geldenhuys took ninth), the youngster who blossomed under the coaching of Paul Gorries in 2024, is looking ahead to the World Championships. Scheduled for Tokyo in September, the competition is an opportunity for this small-town girl to make her first senior global championship final. Joseph says she garnered invaluable experience in the French capital which will serve her well throughout the rest of her career.

"I'm really excited to see what's gonna happen this year because I learnt that you have to be mentally strong. If you're not mentally strong then it’s gonna be hard for you. The other important thing I realised is that you have to take it from the heats up until the semi-finals because the moment I ran a really good race in the heats, I already put my mind in the finals. I didn’t take it step by step. Mentally, I wasn't ready for that. The mistake that I made was getting excited after my heats"”