Awards
MODERN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Throws
Men ’ s Nominees
Kyle Blignaut • Victor Hogan
• Douw Smit
Women ’ s Nominees
Ischke Senekal • Yolandi Stander
• Jo-Ane van Dyk
And the winner is … |
VICTOR HOGAN |
And the winner is … |
JO-ANE VAN DYK |
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In another solid year on the athletics circuit , Victor took gold in the discus at the SA Champs in March , upped his game with a couple of 66m winning throws at meets in Hungary in June . In the weeks after that , he won at three more meets in the Czech Republic , claimed two third-place finishes in Switzerland and Luxemburg , and then took his spot in the qualifying round at the World Champs in August . His best throw of 61.80 in Budapest was unfortunately not good enough to take him into the final .
The 10-time SA Champion and threetime African Champ finished the year ranked 20th in the world on points and 22nd on performance , compared to his 27th place ranking at the World Champs , and that gave him the nod for this award ahead of the other men ’ s throwers who were nominated .
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Without a doubt , one of the highlights of Team SA ’ s outing to the 2023 World Champs in Budapest was seeing Jo-Ane van Dyk finish 10th in the javelin final with a best throw of 57.43 metres . She ’ d started the year with the SA Champs title , followed by the USSA Champs title , and in Budapest , and in July , she set a new best of 61.06 metres as she won the women ’ s javelin at the Morton Games in the Republic of Ireland .
Taking that form in the World Champs in Budapest , she once again went over 60 metres to clinch her qualification for the final , with a 60.09m throw , and then came her 10th place in the final . That saw her finish the year with a points ranking of 17th in the world and a performance ranking of 30th , putting her head and shoulders above the rest of the nominees for women ’ s throws .
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Going C ross C ountry
With the 2023 World Cross Country Championships taking place early in the year in Australia , the winners of this section of the Modern Athlete of the Year Awards were determined long before the other categories . So , these are the two athletes that we feel stood out from the muddy crowd . – BY MANFRED SEIDLER with SEAN FALCONER
And the Men ’ s Winner is … PRECIOUS MASHELE
The men ’ s award goes to Precious for his 16th place finish at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst , Australia . This equaled his performance from 2019 , where he also finished 16th , and only Shadrack Hoff and Stephen Mokoka have placed higher at a World Cross Country Champs , both finishing 15th .
The irony is that the five-time SA Cross Country Champion had actually decided to retire from cross country , in order to focus on the road and track , but he was coaxed back for the SA Trials in December 2022 and ended up winning the men ’ s 10km . That saw him selected for the team to Australia , where he fared best of the South African men in the brutally tough conditions . And that seemed to do him the world of good , because just weeks later he claimed the SA Record for 10km on the road , when he clocked 27 : 35 at the inaugural Absa RUN YOUR CITY race in Gqeberha in April , taking a massive 25 seconds off his previous best ( 2021 ), and eclipsing Stephen Mokoka ’ s 2015 SA Record of 27:38 .
And the Women ’ s Winner is … CIAN OLDKNOW
Cian Oldknow gets the nod for the woman ’ s award for cross country courtesy of her 27th place finish in Bathurst . This was an impressive performance for her debut run in cross country on the world stage . It was her measured approach that saw her come through the ranks in the blistering heat and hot winds , which left even World Champions and World Record-holders falling to their knees and gasping for air . And Cian ’ s good showing in Australia was a sign of what was to come for the rest of 2023 , leading into 2024 .
In the 10km , she clocked 32:53 in Germany as she broke 33 minutes for the first time , and within a few months she had brought her PB down to 32:17 . She also secured her spot in the World Half Marathon team by finishing third at the SA Half Marathon Champs in 1:10:48 – an improvement of more than six minutes over her previous best – and then took a further 40 seconds off that time by running 1:10:08 in Latvia at the World Champs . And now in 2024 , she has blown the marathoning door wide open with her 2:25:08 in
Spain . And much of that success has been built on the stamina and strength honed by cross country !
Images : Barco Greef , Fritz Andexlinger , Cameron Spencer / Getty Images for World Athletics
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