Athletes shine at home after SA hopes derailed at 50km world champs

With the national team’s campaign at the 50km World Championships having been derailed due to administrative issues, all eyes turned to domestic competitions during a busy weekend for South African road running.

While 12 athletes (six men and six women) had been selected to represent the country at the global ultra-distance championships in Hyderabad on Sunday, eight of them were unable to participate after Athletics South Africa failed to secure visas and flight tickets.

Among the four who did turn out at the 50km showpiece, Stella Marais achieved the best result, taking sixth position in the women’s contest in 3:22:04, while compatriot Deanne Laubscher was 10th in 3:25:54.

In the men’s race, Pule Sibeko ended 17th in 2:58:44 and Rufus Photo settled for 30th position in 3:09:29.

Soweto Marathon

Making use of their form after being dropped from the national squad, two members of the original 50km team achieved top-10 finishes after turning out at the Soweto Marathon on Sunday. Nkosikhona Mhlakwana finished seventh in 2:21:39 and Dan Matshailwe was 10th 2:24:29.

Up front, Ntsindiso Mphakathi secured victory in 2:19:13, becoming the first South African man to win the Soweto Marathon title since 2011 as he held off a challenge from defending champion Daba Ifa Debele of Ethiopia, who took second spot in 2:19:52.

Returning to her happy hunting ground, Irvette van Zyl won the women’s race for the fourth time, crossing the line in 2:34:16 and missing her own course record by just 33 seconds. She was nearly two minutes clear of Ethiopian athlete Selam Gebre, who took second place on her marathon debut in 2:36:04.

SA 10km Championships

Meanwhile, in Mbombela on Saturday, Precious Mashele and Glenrose Xaba emerged triumphant at the SA 10km Championships.

National record holder Mashele won a tactical men’s race in 29:12, finishing just four seconds clear of silver medallist Chris Mhlanga.

Xaba, who was crowned top South African at the Spar Grand Prix 10km awards ceremony earlier in the week, completely dominated the women’s race.

She won in 32:07, finishing 40 seconds ahead of second-placed Cacisile Sosibo to secure her third national distance-running title of the year.