Tsholofelo Thipe (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Selemela) (born 9 December 1986) is a South African sprinter, who specialized in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. She set a personal best time of 51.15 seconds by winning the 400 metres event at the 2009 South African Championships in Stellenbosch. She was born in Rustenburg, North West Province.

Career and training

Thipe was one of the first black women to represent South Africa on the track when she competed in the

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She ran in the sixth heat against seven other athletes, including Jamaica's Novlene Williams and Great Britain's

Nicola Sanders Nicola Clare Sanders (born 23 June 1982) is a former British track and field sprinter. She began her career as a 400 metres hurdles specialist before concentrating on the 400 metres from 2006 onwards. Her 400 metres personal best is 49.65 seco ...

, both of whom were heavy favorites in this event. She finished the race in sixth place, seventy-three hundredths (0.73) of a second ahead of Albania's

Klodiana Shala Klodiana Shala (born 22 August 1979 in Tirana) is an Albanian track and field athlete who competes in the 200 metres and 400 metres sprints. Her personal bests are 23.27 and 52.86 seconds, respectively. She was the bearer of the Flag of Albani ...

, with a time of 54.11 seconds. Thipe failed to advance into the semi-finals, as she placed forty-third overall, and finished below the three automatic-advancement slots for the next round. Thipe also sought to qualify for her second Olympics in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She finished fifth in the final of the

at the 2012 African Athletics Championships in

Porto Novo, Benin Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Gu ...

; however, her time of 52.26 seconds was insufficient to secure her place at the Olympics. On October 16, 2012, Thipe was among the ten South African athletes who had failed the drug test for banned substances, including norandrosterone, from the African Championships. She blamed the national team's doctor for prescribing her a contraceptive pill called ''Norlevo'', which contains the banned substance, and slammed Athletics South Africa (ASA) for their failure to follow correct procedure by disclosing the results of her doping test to the media before convening a hearing in which she could defend herself. Thipe is also a resident athlete of Royal Bafokeng Athletics Club in Rustenburg. She is trained by her husband, Eugene Thipe, who also coaches sprinter and national record holder

Simon Magakwe Simon Petrus Magakwe (25 May 1986 in Itsoseng) is a sprinter from South Africa. In 2010 he competed at the 2010 African Championships in Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the ...

, a three-time finalist at the African Athletics Championships.

References

External links

*
NBC 2008 Olympics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thipe, Tsholofelo South African female sprinters Living people Olympic athletes for South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Rustenburg 1986 births African Games silver medalists for South Africa African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games Olympic female sprinters 20th-century South African women 21st-century South African women