South Africa’s rising one-lap star Leendert Koekemoer arrived at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene with little certainty that he would even make it to the starting line.
He left Oregon with two medals, the fastest 400m relay split in the final and an increasingly compelling case that he could become one of South Africa’s next great quarter-milers.
The 19-year-old’s breakthrough at the global junior showpiece came after what he describes as one of the toughest seasons of his young career, involving two hamstring injuries and the upheaval of changing coaches more than once.
“I was proud of myself for going through,” Koekemoer told IOL Sport exclusively on his return from the US. “It was a tough year for me from the beginning of the year. I had a lot of injuries and struggles that I had to go through.”
Indeed, he admits he was not even expected to compete in Eugene before making the South African team at the last minute. Once there, however, Koekemoer showed precisely why he has already made such an impact beyond the junior ranks.
He won bronze in the individual 400m in 44.96 seconds before producing a blistering 44.35-second split on the final leg of the 4x400m relay as South Africa claimed silver in a new African U20 record of 3:02.76. It added to an already remarkable medal collection for an athlete still competing at junior level.
Koekemoer has won senior World Relays gold and silver, helped South Africa to bronze at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo and holds a senior national 4x400m record from the 2026 World Relays.
Individually, he has also become the first South African U20 athlete to break 45 seconds, lowering the national junior mark to 44.94. Yet his Oregon relay performance was fuelled partly by disappointment at not taking individual gold.
“I was a bit disappointed myself, so I didn’t want to disappoint again in the relay final,” he said. “I gave it my everything.”
Koekemoer’s progress has come despite considerable upheaval.
“The coaching changes were difficult,” he said. “I had two injuries in my hamstring and I battled with that a lot. I also battled with the mental state of changing coaches and learning something new.”
Now he believes the difficult chapter is behind him. He heads to Europe, where he will race on the Continental Tour before targeting meetings across the continent and, hopefully, opportunities in the Diamond League.
“I feel like my season so far has really just been focusing a lot and working a lot,” he said. “Now I can just enjoy athletics and run for the fun of it.”
The longer-term target is even bigger: Los Angeles 2028. Koekemoer believes he can compete individually and in the 4x400m relay at the Olympics. But beyond LA lies the benchmark that has inspired him since childhood.
Ten years after Wayde van Niekerk’s extraordinary 43.03 seconds in Rio, Koekemoer speaks to the Olympic champion and seeks his advice.
His grandmother has long predicted that he could one day break Van Niekerk’s record.
“I never wanted to listen to it because I thought 400 was too far,” he said.
Now he is listening.
Asked whether he could become the South African to finally break the 43-second barrier, Koekemoer was refreshingly direct.
“I feel that’s realistic,” he said. “If I really do everything right that I need to do and manage myself right, I think it’s possible for me.”
For an athlete who has already run 44.94 individually, a split of 44.23 in a senior relay and collected medals on the biggest stages while still a junior, it is no longer quite as fanciful as it once sounded.
