JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - 14 October 2010: Interview with former Comrades Marathon winner Nick Bester after he was thrown off his bicycle, kicked, beaten and threatened with a knife by attackers on the Mabopane highway in Pretoria West, South Africa early on Thursday 14 October 2010. Bester suffered a broken rib from the incident and his R50 000 mountain-bike and other valuables were stolen. One of the alleged attackers was apprehended soon after the incident, with Bester's cellular phone. Bester has nine Comrades gold medals to his name, and won the race in 1991. (Photo by Gallo Images/Foto24/Lulama Zenzile)
Former elite athlete Nick Bester has been admitted to hospital after being attacked at the weekend in an alleged assault.
Photographs surfaced on social media yesterday, apparently taken before Bester was admitted to hospital.
“He was attacked and badly beaten up by thugs while out training this morning,” said a source close to Bester. He was apparently left with three broken ribs, a broken cheekbone and severe tissue damage.
Former elite athlete Nick Bester was attacked while training over the weekend in an alleged assault. Photo: Supplied
“He was attacked and he is apparently having surgery, but we don’t know any more than that at this stage,” said Adriaan Cronje, who worked as an administrator with Bester at the Nedbank Club.
Bester’s son, Shaun-Nick Bester, provided an update on his Instagram profile on Sunday, saying his father was busy training in the Magalies Mountain on Sunday morning. He was attacked from behind and hit with a rock over the head.
“They continued to hit him breaking three ribs, his cheek bone and he has a lot of trauma to the head and cut all over his body.
“They took of his clothes and tied him up and left him in the mountain.
“He managed to escape down the mountain by sliding on his back until he was right against someone’s fence.
“He is in ICU at the moment and they are doing more scans etc,” he wrote
Bester, a former ironman triathlete who won the Comrades Marathon in KwaZulu-Natal in 1991, was no stranger to injury or attack.
In 2010 he was assaulted by three men while training in Pretoria.
He was kicked, beaten and threatened with a knife, and he was left with a broken rib, with his attackers stealing his bicycle.
Former elite athlete Nick Bester was attacked while training over the weekend in an alleged assault. Photo: Supplied
In December 2016 he also landed up in the hospital and required surgery on a thumb after saving a friend from a potential shark attack in Plettenberg Bay.
One of the nation’s most versatile athletes during his competitive days, Bester is now the athlete manager at Nedbank Running Club.
He remains a prominent figure, particularly in road running circles, and is a regular-season at local races.
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