Fast SA 21s in Overseas Action
On 11 November , US-based Letitia Saayman clocked a PB 1:15:14 for fourth place in the women ’ s field at the Markel Richmond Half Marathon . The race was won by Ethiopian Firegenet Mandefiro in 1:14:05 and all four top women posted new PBs . Just over a week later , SA Cross Country Champ Precious Mashele joined a competitive elite men ’ s field in the Boulogne-Billancourt Half Marathon in France on 19 November and came home in an impressive 1:01:48 to claim sixth place . The race was won by Eritrea ’ s Hiskel Tewelde , in 1:01:13 .
Three PBs in Two Weeks for Smith
At the Western Province Open Track and Field Meeting in Cape Town on 17 November , Ashley Smith won the men ’ s 5000m race in a PB 13:55.19 , the second-fastest time in SA in 2017 behind Jeromy Andreas ’ 13:52.13 . Two weeks later , at a Boland Athletics meeting in Paarl on 2 December , Ashley proved that his performance was no fluke when he won the men ’ s 1500m race in a PB 3:45.88 , one of the fastest 1500m times in the country in 2017 , and also broke his 800m PB at the same meet . ( In September he also ran a 10km PB of 28:51 in Cape Town .)
Tito Continues Record Streak
Jason Tito continued his South African record-breaking streak when he leapt to a 7.48m victory and South African under-15 best performance in Pretoria on 18 November . He shattered the previous under-15 best of 7.27m for the first time on 16 September , when he jumped 7.36m , and followed that up with 7.38m and 7.48 jumps at later meets .
SA Women Smash PBs in Spain
Seasoned campaigner Nolene Conrad raced to ninth place and a personal best at the Trinidad Alfonzo Valencia Maraton in Spain on 19 November . Her time of 2:35:21 was the fastest marathon time by a South African woman in 2017 , and took a massive 12 minutes off her previous best , which she ran at the 2015 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon . Fellow South African and 2017 Comrades gold medallist Gerda Steyn also made her mark by clocking 2:37:19 , finishing 12 th and breaking her previous best of 2:51:31 by more than 14 minutes !
Tannie Ans Recognised for Contribution
World & Olympic 400m Champion Wayde van Niekerk narrowly missed out on the Male Athlete of the Year Award at the annual IAAF Awards ceremony in Monaco on 24 November , but his 76-year-old coach , Tannie Ans Botha , was given the
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ISSUE 102 JANUARY 2018 / www . modernathlete . co . za
NEWS
I n t h e
Compiled by Reggie Hufkie
Coaching Achievement award . She has been coaching since the late 1960s and has been head athletics coach at Free State University for 27 years , but she really shot to fame when Wayde began dominating the world stage in recent years . ( The Male Athlete of the Year Award went to Qatar high jumper Mutz Essa Barshim , with Belgian heptathlete Nafissatou Thiam winning the women ’ s award .)
Khumalo Retains Ultra- Trail Title
Prodigal Khumalo clinched his second consecutive Ultra-trail Cape Town 100km win on 2 December , seeing off the challenge of Ryan Sandes as he won South Africa ’ s first World Trail Tour event in 9 hours and 51 minutes , a massive 49 minutes faster than Eric Ngubane ’ s course record set in 2014 . Ryan crossed the line five minutes later . Australian 21-year-old sensation Lucy Bartholomew finished 11 th
Sanders Wins African Cup Tri in Morocco
Two-time Olympic triathlete Gill Sanders wrapped up her 2017 season with victory in the ATU Sprint Triathlon African Cup on 2 December in Dakhla , Western Sahara . She came out of the water in the top three , threw in several surges to break up the lead group on the bike leg , then outsprinted the Czech Republic ’ s Petra Kurikova to win in 1:07:02 and bank valuable ranking points ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia .
ASA Launches Athletix Series
overall in an impressive 11:21 to claim the women ’ s title , with local athletes Robyn Owen and Kerry- Anne Marshall finishing second and third .
On 6 December , Athletics South Africa ( ASA ) launched the ASA Athletix Grand Prix Series , where R1.365 million in prize money will be on offer in three track and field meetings that will take place in March 2018 . The meetings will take place in Johannesburg on Thursday 1 March , Tshwane on Thursday 8 March , and Paarl on Thursday 22 March . Each meet will feature a tight programme of 90 minutes to keep spectators and viewers on their toes , especially given that the meetings will be used as preparation by many athletes for the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April .
Images : Nick Muzik , Roger Sedres , Tobia Ginsberg , YouTube & courtesy Nolene Conrad & Gill Sanders