Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 112, November 2018 | Page 8

N EW S
I n
t h e
Compiled by Sean Falconer
Lebogang Shange pulled off
one of the best wins of his race
walking career when he won
the Around Taihu International
20km race in China on the
last weekend of September.
His winning time was 1:23:20,
with Colombia’s Eider Arevalo
finishing a close second in
1:23:23. Wayne Snyman
finished seventh in 1:25:26, the
best result to date of his career.
The 20km race took place on
day two of the three-day Wuzhong “Around Taihu” Race Walking Multi-day Event,
with Lebogang finishing second in the first day’s 12km race and third in the final
day’s 12km race. That gave him an overall second place for the second year in a
row in this event, but more importantly, his win in the 20km pushed him up from
eighth to third place in the IAAF Race Walking Challenge Series.
Magnificent Mashele Takes 10km Title
Three weeks after
retaining his SA
Cross Country 10km
title in Port Elizabeth
and less than one
week after winning
the Sanlam Cape
Town 10km, Lesiba
Precious Mashele
went to Middelburg
on 29 September and
added the SA 10km
Championship title to
his list of honours for 2018. He came home in 29:43, three seconds ahead of
Thabang Mosiako, with two-time defending champion Elroy Gelant finishing
third in 29:48. In the women’s race, Lebogang Phalula won her first ever national
title on the road, having previously won three cross country titles. She clocked
35:57 to win comfortably over SA Half Marathon Champion Jenet Mbhele
(36:18), with Thobile Mkhize third in 36:25. Other notable podium finishers were
sisters Pixie Sparg and Gill Treganna, who finished first and second respectively
in the 70+ category.
Schlebusch Wins Tri Gold at Youth Olympics
The 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were still on the go at the
time of going to press, but Team SA had kicked off the Games on a high note when
Amber Schlebusch
staged an exceptional
comeback to claim
the gold medal in the
women’s triathlon on
6 October. She exited
the water in seventh
position, 27 seconds
behind the leaders, and
was in eighth position,
almost a minute off the
leader after the bike
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ISSUE 112 NOVEMBER 2018 / www.modernathlete.co.za
leg, but then steadily reeled in the girls ahead of her during the run leg. By the
end of the second lap she was lying third, then caught the leader and opened an
11-second cushion as she broke the tape, near to tears with elation.
Van Zyl and Laxton
Star at Final Spar
The final race of the Spar Women’s
Challenge Grand Prix Series took
place in Johannesburg on 7 October,
with the win going to in-form Irvette
van Zyl. She was first home in 34:07,
beating Two Oceans Marathon winner
and Comrades runner-up Gerda Steyn
by 50 seconds, with 2017 Grand Prix
winner Kesa Moletsane crossing the
line third in 35:59. A bit further back in
the field, the evergreen Sonja Laxton
obliterated her own, still pending SA
70+ record of 53:54, which she ran just
three weeks earlier, setting a new mark
of 52:30.
Records tumble in
Durban 10km
Ugandans Joshua Cheptegei and Stella Chesang posted the fastest 10km
road times ever run on South African soil as they claimed line honours, and new
Ugandan Records as well, in the FNB Durban 10km CitySurfRun on 14 October.
Joshua broke the tape in 27:16, going even faster than the 27:29 he clocked in this
same race last year. However, while his margin of victory last year was 36 seconds,
this year it was just 16 seconds as Switzerland’s Julien Wanders pushed him
hard to clock 27:32 for a new Swiss Record. Newly crowned SA Marathon Champ
Stephen Mokoka
was first South African
home in 28:18 for fifth
place, just three weeks
after his brilliant run
at the Sanlam Cape
Town Marathon, while
upcoming youngster
Ryan Mphahlele
smashed his personal
best of 30:31 to finish
in 28:46.
In the women’s race, Stella crossed the line in 31:14, taking a massive 24 seconds
off last year’s winning time and previous Ugandan Record of 31:38, run by
Mercyline Chelangat here in Durban. It also finally improved Elana Meyer’s all-
time best of 31:33 run on SA soil, which she posted way back in 1991 in Durban.
Mercyline had to settle for second this time round in 31:33, with three South
Africans posting PBs as they took the next three positions: Irvette van Zyl (32:06),
Glenrose Xaba (33:14) and Gerda Steyn (33:36).
Almost at the other end of the field, another remarkable record was set as 87-year-
old Deirdre Larkin finished third in the 70+ age category with her 60:04 time.
Pending ratification, this is a new world single-age record for an 87-year-old,
smashing her own mark of 63:43 that she ran at the SA 10km Championships
just two weeks earlier. Deirdre now holds all the single-age records from 81 to 87
except the one for 83, and also has the 80-84 record (54:17 in 2013) and the 85-89
record (59:51 in 2017).
Shange Podiums
Again in China