ELITES
CAN GELANT CLAIM A SECOND TITLE ?
Elroy Gelant , has come a long way since his early days as a junior athlete in his Southern Cape hometown of George , and the 36-year-old Boxer Athletics Club athlete lines up in the Totalsports Two Oceans Half Marathon this year as a strong favourite to take his second title and fifth gold medal at the event . – By Mandla Mapandozi
He has excelled on the track , in cross-country and on the road , having achieved world class performances from 800m on the track to 42km on the road , and Elroy Gelant looks set to continue to do so for many years to come . The double Olympian ( Rio and Tokyo ) and SA Record-holder in the 5000m ( 13:04.88 , set in Holland in 2016 ) is also one of the most consistent Two Oceans Half Marathoners ever , never having dropped below second position in four starts since he began his Oceans ‘ voyage ’ in 2015 , and with all four finishing times within 49 seconds of each other !
In Gelant ’ s debut Two Oceans run in 2015 , Stephen Mokoka edged him into second place , with Mokoka winning by four seconds in 1:04:04 The following year , Gelant improved his time to 1:03:39 , but once again narrowly lost the win , this time by three seconds , to Lesotho ’ s Namakoe Nkhasi .
Gelant ’ s most impressive Two Oceans came in 2019 , when he won decisively in his best race time of 1:03:19 – just four seconds outside Nkhasi ’ s race record of 1:03:15 . That year , Gelant saw off the challenges of Lesotho ’ s Jobo Khatoane and Mokoka , to win by 11 seconds . Then last year , in the first post-COVID edition of the race , the redesigned shorter finish straight on the UCT fields caught Gelant out , when he left his sprint too late and lost by three seconds to Zimbabwean Moses Tarakinyu .
POSITIVE AND CONFIDENT
Now in 2023 , Gelant looks well-placed to record his second win in the Half Marathon , provided the discomfort he experienced during the 5000m at the national track and field championships in Potchefstroom in the last week of March , which caused him to withdraw from that race , proves nothing more than transitory . “ I ’ m looking forward to this year at Two Oceans . I ’ ve had a packed schedule this year , but it ’ s a blessing , really . We ’ ve had to be more race-ready , with more demands and opportunities . For example , in the ABSA RUN YOUR CITY series , additional races have been added in Gqeberha and Pretoria ,” he says .
“ The Two Oceans has always been close to my heart . After finishing second last year , I ’ d love to win this time . Last year ’ s close finish caught me a little off-guard ,” he continues . “ My preparation has been good , and I ’ ve focused more on speed work . So , I ’ m sure Two Oceans will be a great race again . It always is . I will approach it individually and work out my own plan to suit me best . This is something I really look forward to . You can build a good foundation for the year if you can get the Two Oceans title .”
As such , Gelant will be using the Two Oceans as a springboard to the World Championships in Budapest in August . “ I ’ ll either do the 5000m or 10,000m at World Champs , and then see if I can do a marathon later in the year , maybe in Spain , to try to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the marathon .”
WOMEN ’ S RACE WIDE OPEN
While Gelant is confident of a South African win in the men ’ s race at the Two Oceans Half Marathon this year , the absence of leading women such as Glenrose Xaba and Nolene Conrad , as well as last year ’ s winner , Zimbabwean Fortunate Chidzivo , seems to open the way for 42-year-old Namibian , Helalia Johannes , to return to the winners ’ step on the podium . The Namibian soldier , who boasts a half marathon best of 1:07:49 , has a long , successful history in the Two Oceans Half Marathon .
She finished 17th in her debut run 19 years ago in 2004 , but since then has largely proven unbeatable on the challenging Oceans 21km route , having recorded five victories in 2006 , 2007 , 2009 , 2011 and 2019 . ( She failed to finish in 2005 and 2008 .) Remarkably , on four of those occasions , she ran course record times , including her last run four years ago , when she clocked the current record of 1:10:29 , a year after winning the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games Marathon on the Gold Coast in Australia , and the she won the bronze medal in the World Champs Marathon later in 2019 as well .
While Johannes does focus on the marathon these days , having run the Olympic Marathon in 2021 ( finishing 11th ) and then winning the bronze medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games Marathon , she has managed to retain much of her speed over shorter distances , and therefore cannot be ruled out of contention for another win in Cape Town .
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