Up-and-coming 800m athlete Prudence Sekgodiso has become the first South African woman to win a medal at the World Indoor Championships.

The 23-year-old from the University of Pretoria won gold in Nanjing, China, in a season-best time of one minute, 58.4 seconds.

She finished over a second ahead of Nigist Getachew of Ethiopia, with Patricia Silva of Portugal third.

Sekgodiso also reached the 800m final at the Paris Olympics last year, but this is by far her best international performance.

Her gold was South Africa’s second medal of the championships after Akani Simbine won bronze in the men’s 60m sprint.