SA marathon runners crippled by humidity at Tokyo Olympics

South Africa’s marathon runners struggled in humid conditions on Sunday, as the country’s Olympic campaign fizzled to a disappointing close.

In the last contest of the Tokyo Games for the national team, Elroy Gelant was the only SA athlete to finish the men’s 42.2km race, which was held in Sapporo.

Gelant took 34th position in 2:16:43, while Stephen Mokoka and Desmond Mokgobu were among the 30 athletes in the field of 106 runners who did not finish the race.

World record holder Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won gold in 2:08:38.

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“Our goal was to get a medal for South Africa, and we did try,” Gelant said.

“For the first 25km we were up there with the leading guys but after 28km the conditions got more difficult in terms of the heat. It became difficult to breathe.

“I’m happy to have finished the race but I’m still disappointed because we knew what our goals were. We wanted to go for a medal for our country and we didn’t achieve that.”

The SA team finished 52nd in the final table with three medals at the Tokyo showpiece, with swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker (gold and silver) and Bianca Buitendag (silver) stepping on the podium.

It was the first time since readmission in 1992 that the SA athletics team failed to reach the podium at the quadrennial Games.