Tumi Ramokgopa: Rising SA star on clearing hurdles in life and on the track

Tumi Ramokgopa. This name is likely to be etched in South African sports history forever if its owner continues on her upward trajectory. Ramokgopa is a rocket-like sprinter who specialises in both the 100m and 400m hurdles. And she keeps improving with each year.

The teenager turns 19 in August. However, she is already an experienced senior athlete, having made her debut among the seniors at just 15. It’s this experience that sees her tower over her fellow juniors in South Africa and on the continent – despite her diminutive stature.

In March, at the Athletics South Africa Age Group Championships in Germiston, Ramokgopa showed again that she has no competition among her peers. To clinch the 100m hurdles she ran a personal best of 12.93. In the process she became the youngest South African female athlete to break the 13-second barrier in the event.

In a showcase of her overall dominance, Ramokgopa then won the 400m hurdles in the same junior championships in 56.05, although her personal best in the event is 55.90. It was the perfect start to the teenager’s year, especially with the ambitions she has for the rest of 2026.

The biggest goal? To conquer the global stage at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships. The tournament takes place in the US city of Eugene, Oregon, between 5 and 9 August. At the previous championships, which took place in Lima, Peru, and where compatriot Bayanda Walaza announced himself on the global stage, Ramokgopa experienced the toughness of international competition.

The sprinting starlet competed in the 400m hurdles, falling at the semifinal stage. Two years later, she is hungry to redeem herself and show how much she has grown since that heartbreak. Her general improvement and mastery of the 100m hurdles mean she will be a double threat in Oregon.

“I am excited for the World Championships. It is kind of a redemption year for me – having to take everything that I learnt in 2024 and now knowing how my body is on the world stage. I’ve learnt a lot,” Ramokgopa told Daily Maverick. “Being there in 2024 was just a lesson, just to know how I’m going to manoeuvre from there. After that experience, I knew what I wanted.

“Now, going into it this year, [my coach George Bradley and I] have bigger goals, bigger expectations. We just hope that when we get there, we deliver.

“But it’s also in God’s hands. We’re just going to have fun, representing not only myself, but South Africa as well. It’s really exciting,” she added.

Curiosity created a hurdler

When she was younger, Ramokgopa never imagined she’d be where she is now in hurdling. Or even running. Like most children, she had loads of energy to burn and she did so in sports. At school she played netball and hockey.

However, she stopped playing netball in primary school and left hockey to focus on the track when she was in Grade 9 at Prestige College in Hammanskraal near Pretoria.

“Tumi is short in stature. That is a dis­advantage, especially in the short-distance hurdles,” Bradley was quoted as saying by the University of Pretoria, where Ramokgopa is a student.

“Tumi will compete in both events as long as she can. The short hurdles help her run the 400m hurdles. I expect her to reach higher levels in the longer event as her career advances.”

But why athletics? Ramokgopa drew inspiration from her older brother, Lehlogonolo. He was the runner and competed in hurdles.

She then tried hurdles herself because she wanted a challenge.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but in Ramokgopa’s case it has opened many doors and she is hopeful that this is just the beginning of her journey as an elite athlete.

McLaughlin-Levrone love

The most important thing for the youngster is to never lose herself in the pursuit of being the best runner she can be. For this, Ramokgopa draws inspiration from fellow hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The American is a lighthouse for the South African as well as other athletes because of her humanity in a career that makes her seem superhuman owing to her sporting achievements.

McLaughlin-Levrone is fiercely competitive, but she also remains true to her ideals. Athletics is what the US Olympian does, not who she is. That’s the same principle Ramokgopa carries with her as she continues her upward ­trajectory on the track. She is a boisterous and carefree soul, and this part of her personality peaks after each race success.

“It’s just how I am. I’ve learnt that even though track is about competing, at the end of the day you should enjoy it. If you’re doing it to just prove a point, then maybe it’s not for you. I’m just here to improve myself,” Ramokgopa said.

“This season is a new year, a new challenge. But it doesn’t change how I view things. I’ve always had a very loving and very expressionist personality. It’s in me; I’ve just brought it to the track as well.”

Sports psychology ambitions

When Ramokgopa speaks she is self-­assured and concise, displaying maturity beyond her years. The student and athlete hopes to use lessons learnt on the track and her experience of leaping over different hurdles in her life to shape South Africa’s future athletes.

Studying for a bachelor’s degree, she has ambitions of specialising in sports psychology. “I’m looking into doing sports psychology because I’ve realised that there are so many talented people in South Africa. It’s just that sometimes we don’t have the proper mentality for how to approach [being the best in the world],” she said.

“I want to be one person that helps people, especially with that, to see young South Africans thrive. We have so much to show the world. We just don’t have the necessary resources for it. So, I want to play a role.”

While she works on fulfilling that dream, Ramokgopa is inspiring young and old South Africans in many ways as she leaps over obstacles on and off the track. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.