Three South African marathoners took to the streets and hills on the final day of competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. All three finished the gruelling 42.2km route in suffocating heat. All three have their own stories to tell. All three will share a life experience.
As the curtain came down on a memorable 2024 Olympics, Team SA finished their campaign in 44th position on the medals table – China edged the United States overall – with one gold, three silvers and two bronzes. The total of six is joint second most with Athens 2004 and London 2012, and four behind the 10 won at Rio 2016.
In Africa, South Africa finished third behind Kenya and Algeria, ahead of Ethiopia and Egypt.
It was the women’s marathon that was the curtain call. South Africa had three representatives on a day where the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan joined the ranks of Games greats. She added the Olympic marathon to a Games where she had already won silver in the 5 000m and bronze in the 10 000m. To cap it all, she lowered the Olympic marathon record to 2hr 22min 55sec on a course which they said was one of the toughest in history. Yet, there were Games records in both the men and women.
Of the South Africans it was Cian Oldknow who fared best, She crossed the line in 32nd position in 2.30:29, some 7min 34sec off the gold medal and 7:19 off bronze. Not that a medal was ever a possibility for her, Irvette van Zyl and Gerda Steyn.
During the week the four-time Olympian Van Zyl admitted her biggest goal was “to finish”, given she’d withdrawn injured on the eve of her previous two marathon attempts. She was therefore elated to finish in 2.31:19, which placed her 37th, while Steyn, who said during the week that her “best distance would be 90km”, finished in 2.32:41 for 45th position.
تعليقات