Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 113, December 2018 | Page 8

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Compiled by Sean Falconer
In mid-October the IAAF
announced that it will
hold back on applying its
contentious rules to limit
natural testosterone levels
in female runners until
the Court of Arbitration
for Sport concludes an
appeal case brought by
Olympic Champion Caster
Semenya. The rule would
have come into play on 1
November, but will now be
delayed till late March, which would still be six months before the start of the 2019
World Championships in Doha, Qatar. If the rules for athletes with differences of
sex development (DSD) are upheld by the court, female runners will be forced
to medicate to reduce their testosterone levels for six months before racing
internationally, specifically in events from 400m up through the mile. Semenya is
the current 800m World Champion and a favourite for a fourth World Title to add
to her two Olympic golds. She also took bronze in the 1500m at the 2017 World
Champs.
ASA Unveils 2019 Prep
Squads
In late October Athletics South Africa announced
three preparation squads ahead of various major
international championships in 2019. The initial
47-member senior squad was named for the
World Championships in Doha next September,
and includes 400m world record holder Wayde
van Niekerk, who is expected to return soon
from a knee injury. ASA also announced junior
and youth preparation squads, consisting of 31
members each, to begin preparing for the 2019
CAA African U18 and U20 Championships in the
Ivory Coast in April, and the 2019 CAA Southern
Region U18 and U20 Championships to be held here in Boksburg in May.
Gerda’s Remarkable
New York
Reigning Old Mutual Two Oceans
champion and Comrades runner-up Gerda
Steyn posted a magnificent new personal
best of 2:31:04 to finish 13th in the TCS
New York City Marathon on 4 November.
She shattered her previous mark (2:37:22)
by more than six minutes, and this shot
her up to sixth place on the SA all-time list,
with the 21 st -fastest time. Along the way,
she also ran 1:16:35 for the half marathon
distance, which unofficially beat her PB of
1:17:47 by more than a minute!
Super League Tri Podiums for Henri
At the Super League Triathlon Mallorca on 4 November, on the picturesque Spanish
island in the Mediterranean Sea, Henri Schoeman took the win in the three-stage
Triple Mix event, then managed a third in the Sprint Enduro the following day
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ISSUE 113 DECEMBER 2018 / www.modernathlete.co.za
to take second overall for the
weekend. After three rounds in
the series, in Jersey, Malta and
Mallorca, Vincent Luis of France
is sitting at the top of the series
leader board, on 75 points, with
Henri (63) and Richard Murray
(48) giving the top three standings
a great South African feel. The
next stop for the series will be in
Singapore in February.
Glenrose Clinches Grand Prix
On 8 November, Glenrose Xaba was
officially announced as winner of the
2018 SPAR Women’s 10km Challenge
Grand Prix series. She becomes
the eighth athlete to add her name
to the competition’s list of winners,
having accrued 104 points over the
six-race series. She won in Pretoria,
finished second in Cape Town, PE and
Durban, and was fourth in Durban.
(Unfortunately, she and three other
runners, including last year’s Grand Prix
winner Kesa Moletsana, were disqualified in the
Pietermaritzburg race for taking the wrong route.)
Second and third places in the series went to
Zimbabweans Rudo Mhonderwa (97 points) and
Rutendo Nyahora, (92 points), while Kesa finished
fourth on 91 points, but the most remarkable
result was three-times Grand Prix winner Irvette
van Zyl’s fifth place (85 points). She finished third
in Cape Town while six months pregnant with
her second child, did not run in Port Elizabeth
or Durban due to the pregnancy, then returned
in Pretoria, just eight weeks after giving birth,
and finished fourth. Two weeks later she won in
Pietermaritzburg and finished the series with an emphatic win in Johannesburg!
More International Highlights
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•
•
In the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon in
the Republic of Ireland on 28 October,
David Manja finished second in a PB of
2:13:33, coming home just nine seconds
behind winner Asefa Bekele of Ethiopia.
Unfortunately, Joel Mmone failed to finish,
dropping out between 30 and 35 km after
posting a 1:06:49 halfway split.
At the Bank of Nanjing Marathon in
China on 4 November, Modike Lucky
Mohale ran 2:18:54 to finish sixth, as
Felix Kipchumba Korir of Kenya won in
2:14:16.
Reigning SA 10km and Cross Country
Champ Precious Mashele clocked the
fastest half marathon time of the year by a South African as he sped to a
1:01:14 PB to take third at the Boulogne-Billancourt Half Marathon in Paris,
France on 18 November.
Courtesy ITU
IAAF Delays Testosterone Rule