ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Awards

MODERN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

They call her Miss PB for a reason , and in 2023 Cian Oldknow once again lived up to that billing by clocking seven personal bests over distances ranging from 3000m to the half marathon . She also represented South Africa twice in 2023 , first at the World Cross Country Championships , where she was first South African home in the women ’ s main event , crossing the line 27th overall , and then at the World Half Marathon Championships she took 40 seconds off her PB , clocking 1:10:48 !

Cian opened her 10km account with a 32:53 PB in Herzogenaurach , Germany , at the adidas Road to Records event , before lowering her PB again , to 32:49 , at the SPAR Women ’ s Series race in Gqeberha , and then took a huge 32 seconds off that mark as she won the Hollywoodbets Durban 10K in 32:17 . This was also the biggest win of her career in South Africa to date , with a stacked elite women ’ s field .

Cian secured her spot in the World Half Marathon team by finishing third at the SA Half Marathon Championships in 1:10:48 – an improvement of more than six minutes over her previous best – and continuing in that vein , she took a further eight seconds off that time by running 1:10:08 in Latvia at the World Championships .

“ It ’ s such an honour to win this award !” says Cian . “ I ’ ve been working hard with my coach George Bradley the last few years , and the last few months it ’ s been paying off more and more . It ’ s so lovely to get recognised for the work you have put in ! Really gives that little bit more motivation to keep driving forward , too . The support from the running community has been so positive and powerful !”

Cian has already stolen the road running headlines in 2024 . She ran her marathon debut at the Johnson Crane Hire Marathon in Johannesburg in January , coasting to a 2:39:28 win , but that turned out to be just a training run , as she then clocked a scintillating 2:25:08 in her international marathon debut in Sevilla , Spain on 18 February . This rocketed her to second place on the all-time list for SA women in the marathon , and saw her qualify for the Paris Olympics , which has now become her big focus for 2024 .

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