Category: News

While Givemore Mudzinganyama landed ‘the big fish’ to win the men’s title at the 2023 edition of the Totalsports Two Oceans 56km Ultra Marathon, the women’s race was once again a triumph for Gerda Steyn, who raced to a second consecutive course record, and an unprecedented fourth successive win in ‘The World’s Most Beautiful Marathon.’

Steyn simply had too much speed and strength for the valiant Ethiopian quartet of Amelwork Bosho, Yeshiemebet Nguse, Tinebeb Ali and Ashakech Yami, who claimed four Two Oceans gold medals for their country – another first in Two Oceans history.

While Steyn’s husband, Duncan Ross, is an airline pilot, it was the Free State-born athlete who was doing the flying in this race. Although slowing slightly on the race’s biggest climb up Constantia Nek, she had enough in the bag to be able to savour her moment of victory, high-fiving fans in the finish straight as she came home in 3 hours 29 minutes and six seconds. This shaved another 36 seconds off the stunning 3:29:42 she posted last year to finally eclipse the legendary Frith van der Merwe’s magic mark of 3:30:36, which had stood since 1989.

The new course record doubled Steyn’s R250,000 first prize to half a million, thanks to the record incentive of R250,000 put up by title sponsor Totalsports, and the win also earned her the use of a Kia car for twelve months, both in South Africa and abroad, thanks to the event’s official vehicle sponsor.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so emotional at the finish,” remarked Steyn in the post-race press conference. “My whole family was here to welcome me. I just love this race, and will certainly be back next year, and hopefully for many years to come.

“My main aim was simply to go for my fourth win. I was racing head-to-head with the Ethiopian athletes for the first half and on Chappies before I was able to move ahead.  But I thought the record might come if I maintained a good pace. At 50km, I worked out that if I ran 3:30 per kilometre to the finish, I still would still have a few extra seconds to enjoy the moment!” she added.

Remarkably, Steyn did those calculations in her head while running at a high intensity, after 50km of tough racing, no doubt using skills learnt in her former career as a qualified quantity surveyor. “This was a much more enjoyable race than last year’s one,” admitted Steyn. “I did experience a tough patch on Constantia Nek, but nothing like the ‘dark place’ I had to run through last year. But looking back, I’m pleased I had to endure that last year, as it gave me another tool which I can use in racing.”

Making the Right Move

Zimbabwe-born and Johannesburg-based Mudzinganyama came into the 2023 Two Oceans with a limited record in the event. He finished 12th in the 2015 Half Marathon, and then earned an impressive runners-up medal behind Kane Reilly in the 2018 Long Trail race. After experiencing considerable success as a trail athlete, including a hattrick of wins at the Cape Town Peace Trail 21km and partnering Edwin Sesipi to victory in the AFRICANX Trailrun, Mudzinganyama pondered his future as an athlete.

“I love trail running, but you can’t easily make a living in that discipline,” admitted Mudzinganyama. “So, after working at the ASICS shoe store in Johannesburg, I opted to become a full-time professional athlete and joined up with Hendrick Ramaala and his club, Entsika.”

But it was a lesson in fishing that was responsible for Mudzinganyama’s path to Oceans glory. “I was struck by what our manager said at our club’s end of year meeting last November,” said Mudzinganyama. “He said that while you could earn some smaller income with running regular shorter-distance road races, if you can ‘catch one big fish a year,’ you could make a real living. He was talking about the big races in South Africa, including Two Oceans, Comrades, Cape Town Marathon and Soweto Marathon. I liked what he said, and decided to try to catch my fish in the Two Oceans!  Training with Coach Ramaala’s running group at Zoo Lake has made a big difference and prepared me well for today.”

Close Racing at the Top

Mudzinganyama’s win was a product of good planning, great timing and superb execution, but it didn’t come easily. Shaking off charismatic Nedbank athlete, Dan Matshailwe, in the final quarter of the climb to Constantia Nek, Mudzinganyama surged past Maxed Elite’s race leader, Lesotho’s Lebello Mopenyane, on the approach to Kirstenbosch. However, Matshailwe’s race was not yet run, and he came back strongly, and also in the mix was last year’s runner-up, Nkosikhona Mhlakwana, who finally found his race legs and was flying through the field to set up a thrilling finish for the second successive year.

It was anyone’s race, but Mudzinganyama was as good as his name, and ‘gave a little more’ when he needed it most. Although the Mpumalanga-based Matshailwe put in a storming finish after struggling with his quadriceps earlier, the Zimbabwean was never going to concede victory and he held on in superb style to claim victory in 3:09:56. Matshailwe crossed the line 23 seconds later, with Mhakwana 21 seconds further back in third.

Remarkably, just as was the case last year, the first two across the line were Two Oceans Ultra Marathon debutants, with Mudzinganyama racing further than he has ever done before.  Entiska gained their second gold medal with Msawenkosi Mthalane coming home fourth, 40 seconds clear of Mopenyane, who had led race from shortly before halfway until he was overhauled by Mudzinganyama just over 5 km from home. Six clubs shared the 10 gold medals on offer, with Maxed Elite bagging three golds, Ensika and Nedbank two each, and one each from Hollywood, Phantane and Murray & Roberts.

Fighting for the Podium

Meanwhile, the women’s race was an intense affair in the early stages as the lead quintet jockeyed for position. Steyn seemed to have made the decisive break on Chapman’s Peak, but the game Ethiopian athlete, Ali, momentarily regained the joint lead with her on the Chappies descent. Once Ali conceded defeat and dropped back again, there was little doubt as to the destiny of the 2023 winner’s trophy as Steyn powered away again, but the battle for the rest of the podium places delivered its share of excitement.

After a deliberately conservative start, another Ethiopian, Bosho, moved up through the field, overhauling her compatriots in the final quarter of the race to move into second place.  Running strongly, she looked certain for second, but a fast-finishing Carla Molinaro, who returned to Cape Town and the land of her birth at the end of last year ‘to find some sun’ after an extended period in Great Britain, appeared out of nowhere, closing fast on Bosho.

In the end, Bosho clinched second in 3:41:29, a massive 12 minutes 23 seconds behind Steyn, but just nine seconds clear of a flying Molinaro. “That was the run of my life,” said the delighted Molinaro, who raced through the standard marathon mark in Hout Bay in 2:46, just a few seconds off her personal best for that distance. “I can’t believe my race today – it was just perfect!”

Wayde van Niekerk proved he’s well on the way back to his finest form, running the fastest time since his career-threatening 2017 injury to claim the national 400m title at the SA Track and Field Championships in Potchefstroom on Saturday, and providing just one of the many highights of the final day of action. – BY KARIEN JONCKHEERE

When he clocked 44.95 seconds to win his semi-final round of the men’s 400m, Wayde van Niekerk gave a hint of things to come, and then dropped to a comfortable-looking 44.17 in the final to claim his first national 400m title since 2016 – the same year he broke the world record. Van Niekerk admitted afterwards that while his body is feeling good, the mental side of his performance still needs some work. “My body is perfect, my body feels strong. I am handling the rounds well – it’s just the holistic package that I’m working on and hopefully it will all come together,” he said.

“Honestly, I just want to survive right now. I just want to overcome straining the body physically and mentally, pushing barriers and challenging myself. Today I can say I crossed the line healthy. I was far from where I wanted to be mentally, but I overcame that and ran a good time. It was tough… you’ve seen the rollercoaster since my injury, and with that comes a lot of mental battles and challenges, questions and doubts, and just trying to fight through it, but I’m grateful to put down a time that gives me hope.”

Also impressing in the 400m was World Junior Champion Lythe Pillay, who ran the first sub-45-second time of his career with a 44.94 in the semifinal, and then he went even quicker for his silver medal behind Van Niekerk, crossing the finish line in 44.80. Van Niekerk credited the youngster for spurring him on to such a speedy time. “That’s why I ran what I ran today. I wouldn’t have run a race like that if I thought the competition was easy,” said the 2016 Olympic champion.

Results to Write Home ABout

The qualifying time in the men’s 400m for the World Championships in Budapest later this year is 45 seconds, meaning both Van Niekerk and Pillay dipped under that mark twice on Saturday. The other qualifier of the day was Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Zeney van der Walt, who showed impressive form in the women’s 400m hurdles to take a third national title in 54.82.

“I just focused on my own race, so I didn’t hear anyone or see anyone. I wanted to run a sub-55, and I’m very grateful for that,” said Van der Walt. “It felt like a really nice race. I kept calm, focused, and my race plan went almost as perfectly as I wanted it to.”

Meanwhile, there were two impressive doubles completed on Saturday with Miranda Coetzee claiming both the women’s 400m and 200m just a few hours apart, while Prudence Sekgodiso successfully defended her 800m and 1500m titles. Coetzee claimed both her gold medals in personal best times, securing 400m honours in 51.04 and the 200m in 22.74. “I just had to fix my mindset. That’s the only thing that I had to do there. I came here with a goal because normally I write them down, so I told God that I’m going to come back with two gold medals, and that’s what I did, so I’m just so thankful,” she said.

Sekgodiso claimed the 1500m in a time of 4:17.22, and followed that up with the 800m victory in 2:03.92. “I came here knowing I was going to take on the double, so the only things that I came here for was to defend both my titles and also to run sub-2:05 in the 800m. I did that and I’m over the moon,” she said.

The other notable performance of the day came from hammer thrower Leandri Geel, who only switched to the event from discus four years ago. Coached by former Commonwealth Games champion and multiple SA Champion Chris Harmse, Geel has gone from strength to strength, and on Saturday she broke the South African women’s record with a final-round effort of 65.18m. “It’s such a relief to get it, because I’ve been working so hard and it just all fell into place today,” said an elated Geel afterwards.

Day two of the SA Track and Field Championships in Potchefstroom came to a soggy end as persistent rain meant numerous events had to be postponed until Saturday, but there were still some highlights worth mentioning. – BY KARIEN JONCKHEERE

In spite of persistently wet condition during the second day of the national champs meet, an absorbing men’s triple jump competition was decided by just one centimetre as Lleyton Davids (pictured above) secured a third consecutive national title, with a leap of 16.92m. Welre Olivier just missed out on gold with a best of 16.91m, while his 17-year-old brother, Ethan Welre, wasn’t far behind, securing the bronze medal with a jump of 16.85m.

Based in Vereeniging after their parents returned to the country from New Zealand, the Olivier brothers have been rewriting the Kiwi record books in recent months. In February, Welre broke the senior national New Zealand record, which had stood for 45 years, with a jump of 16.48m. Ethan bettered the under-20 record with a leap of 16.22m. Although longer, Friday’s jumps won’t count as new records, unfortunately, as they were wind-assisted.

Olivier is a familiar name in triple-jumping circles, with the boys’ father and coach, Wikus, having held the South African record of 16.89m from 1994 to 2004, when it was broken by Khotso Mokoena’s leap of 16.96m. Olympic long jump silver medallist Mokoena went on to better that with a 17.35m effort in 2014 – a record that still stands. “I am very proud of the boys, we worked hard the whole year,” said a proud Wikus afterwards. “It’s just a pity the wind was a bit strong. This was the best triple jump competition in years, with three jumpers so close to 17m.”

Painful Exit for Adams

Elsewhere, there was despair for Luxolo Adams in his 200m semi-final. The World Championship finalist pulled up in the home straight and was ruled out of being able to challenge for a first national title since 2018. Adams is hopeful that it’s nothing serious, and said, “It was just a cramp, very sensitive pulling, but we’ll get it sorted within the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, we get a positive result tomorrow when I go for a scan, and we’ll take it from there,”

He added, “I started feeling it approaching the 100m mark… I wanted to continue, but it was just too sensitive. Now the focus is on recovering well and getting back on the track. I’m very disappointed, but this is sport, and these things are there for us as athletes. I’m just going to keep my head up and keep on training and keep on coming back.”

As for his plans for the rest of the season, Adams said, “We’ll see how the season goes, but I still believe there’s more in the tank. I can still go sub-20 seconds. Training has been good, there hasn’t been anything off. These were just unforeseen circumstances, but I’ll remain positive, like I said, and focus on the season.”

In Adams’ absence, Eckhart Potgieter (20.63), Tsebo Matsotso (20.48) and Armand van der Walt (20.70) won their respective 200m semi-finals. In the women’s 200m semi-finals, Shirley Nekhubui (23.12) and Miranda Coetzee (23.01) won their heats and progressed to the final, with Coetzee looking to do an ambitious double in the 200m and 400m, with both finals being contested on Saturday.

Photograph by Cecilia van Bers

An exciting first day of action at the ASA Senior Track and Field Championships in Potchefstroom saw sprinter Akani Simbine claim a fifth national title in the men’s 100m, while there were also repeat wins for other SA stars. – BY KARIEN JONCKHEERE

Akani Simbine believes he has nothing more to prove, and it shows. The two-time Olympic finalist produced the top performances of the opening day of the SA Championships in Potchefstroom on Thursday, admitting afterwards that he’s in a much happier place than last year, when he burst into floods of tears after safely securing the 2022 national 100m title.

Simbine blitzed to a speedy 9.98 seconds in Thursday’s heats, and then bettered that with a 9.92 in the semifinals – both within the 10-second qualifying standard for the World Athletics Championships taking place in August in Budapest, Hungary. He then ran 10.14 in the final for a fifth national 100m title.

“I just had a little technical error in the beginning, but other than that it was a good race. It’s just unfortunate it’s a bit chilly right now and the wind was against us, but the legs are still good. I can go another round,” he joked afterwards. “I’m just happy to be running well and feeling good and having everything around me be in a good space. My confidence has been up since I started training. I had to just get my head right, and I think that’s one big play right now.”

“Last year a lot of things were happening, but this year my confidence is back up and I’ve got to a point where I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I know I am fast, I know I’m one of the best sprinters in the world, so I just have to go out there, train hard, focus on training, do better every time on the track, and get there and perform,” added Simbine.

More Repeat Winners

Also claiming a fifth national title in the 100m on Thursday was women’s champion Carina Horn. She held on for victory in 11.52 seconds, just in front of Tamzin Thomas who took the silver in 11.58. “It was a bit tough… there was a bit of a headwind, but I’m just happy to defend my title,” she said after her final, and about claiming a fifth title, she added: “It feels good. It’s probably my second-last year, so it’s good to have it back again.”

On the other end of the distance spectrum, Glenrose Xaba dominated the women’s 10,000m final. The 28-year-old lapped almost the entire field on her way to a sixth national title in the event, just missing the sub-33-minute mark as she finished in 33:02.13. “It’s high altitude so I’m happy with the time,” said Xaba afterwards.

Sadly, Xaba didn’t get to run alongside her coach, Caster Semenya, as she had hoped to do. The two-time Olympic 800m Champion was initially included on the start list for the 10,000m race, but chose not to compete in what would effectively have been her final competitive race, with World Athletics’ new regulations barring her participation in all distances because of naturally occurring testosterone levels, which come into effect on Friday 31 March.

Van Niekerk Inspires

Meanwhile, the Potch fans were treated to the sight of a fit-again Wayde van Niekerk cruising through his 400m heat on Thursday. The 400m World Record-holder is making a return to the event at the national championships for the first time since 2016 and comfortably won his heat in a time of 45.99 seconds.

Also looking in fine form was reigning World Junior Champion Lythe Pillay, who easily won his heat in a slightly quicker 45.95. “It felt comfortable, but I wasn’t expecting to push for that time in the heat,” said the 20-year-old afterwards. As for his impressions of the returning Van Niekerk, Pillay reckoned: “Wayde is the best there is… I had a bit of a fan moment watching him, and then I was like, no, you have to get ready to run now. But it was nice, seeing how he runs, seeing him in person. I’m looking forward to racing with him.”

“Having him back is good, exciting. It also motivates all of us, because when it comes time to race, we all want to do our best, for ourselves, but also to impress him a bit as well. He’s motivated a lot of athletes like myself. I’ve been his fan for quite a while, and he inspired me to run the 400, so it’s good to see him back,” added Pillay.

Action at the SA Track and Field Championships continues on Friday and comes to an end on Saturday, 1 April.