ELITES
Will Nwabisa Mjoli spice things up for seeming favourite , Cian Oldknow ?
Another top contender for this year ’ s Two Oceans Half Marathon honours had the race of her life at the Seville Marathon in February .
Mosiako ’ s 27:45 10km in Lille , France , in November , just 10 seconds outside Precious Mashele ’ s national record set in Gqeberha last April , would have given him plenty of confidence for top performances in 2024 . He launched his 2024 season in style with a 20- second PB in the 5 000m at Nelson Mandela University in January , clocking an impressive 13:37 .
He followed that up with an impressive 1:01:42 half marathon in Lisbon three weeks back and will feel he is on track to deal with his unfinished business at the Two Oceans Half Marathon .
Return threat - Jobe Khatoane
Trying to take the pressure off his star athlete , Mbambani dismisses talk of Mosiako as the race favourite . “ There are many athletes capable of excellent performances at the TTOM 2024 half marathon and Thabang was well beaten last year , so it ’ s always hard to predict the outcome .”
Mbambani was likely referring to athletes of the calibre of Lesotho ’ s Jobe Khatoane , whose place last year behind Mathanga pushed Mosiako off the podium , despite the fast pace he had set through the first half . Khatoane returns to Two Oceans action on Sunday and will again strongly contest the podium positions .
Cian Oldknow ran to a superb 2:25:08 – more than a minute inside qualification – and looks forward to testing her Olympic preparation with a solid performance at the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon 2024 .
Oldknow returns to the Two Oceans event seven years after experiencing the ‘ gees ’ of the event as a junior athlete . “ Two Oceans is special to me as it was the first half marathon I did as a junior back in 2015 !” recalled Oldknow . “ We always did it as a family holiday event ( she ran three successive years , from 2015 to 2017 ) so it evokes many special memories of the best of times with my mom .
“ I think it ’ s a highly prestigious race in South Africa , and it ’ s great to be a part of these big races that bring the running community together .”
A Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon 21km personal best is a betting certainty for Oldknow . While her 1:41:22 time was respectable as a relative running novice and junior in 2015 , the Johannesburg-based athlete is now competing at an entirely different level . Since signing up as part of the George Bradley stable , she has improved her half marathon time by more than 20 minutes .
Known playfully as ‘ Ms PB ’, with reference to her history of improving almost with every race , Oldknow recently showed her class by finishing an impressive 7th against a world-class field in the half marathon at the All-Africa Games in Ghana . She is set to be the athlete to beat next Sunday .
Oldknow ’ s coach Bradley sees the Totalsports Two Oceans Marathon as an important part of her race programme for the year . “ Cian ’ s aim for Oceans is to do a slight taper , race hard , recover well and continue with her training . A win is not the most important goal , although she has said she would love to podium .
“ We are also looking at the possibility of doing the National Marathon Championship in Durban two weeks later . She used a marathon to prepare for Seville and we feel that another marathon this month could be beneficial for the Olympics .”
Oldknow herself is excited about racing in Paris as part of Team South Africa following her excellent performances at the World Half Marathon in Latvia last October ( where she ran her personal best of 1:10:08 ) and the All-African Games in Ghana . “ It still feels a bit unreal that I might be headed to Paris later this year for the Olympics ,” admitted Oldknow .
“ But I am so excited about it . It ’ s always been a dream to go to the Olympics and to be so close to it now , feels a bit like dreamland . I ’ m excited to see what work we can still put in between now and August , and Two Oceans is an important part of that .”
Oldknow will not have it all her way next Sunday . Lesotho athlete , Mokulubete Makatsi , took the final podium position last year behind British athlete Emma Pallant and Ethiopian Bekelech Wariyo and will look to move up a step or two this year . Benoni-North ’ s fast-rising Kate van Jaarsveld will also likely improve significantly on her only previous Two Oceans Marathon outing in 2022 when she clocked 1 hr 26 min .
But watch out for Nwabisa Mjoli ! Inspired and motivated by her Phantane clubmate , Gerda Steyn , Nwabisa ’ s star is on the rise and she has the ability to push her All-African Games teammate , Oldknow , all the way .
Given the hilly nature of the course , with testing climbs at Edinburgh Drive and Southern Cross Drive as key features of the race , don ’ t rule out world-class trail athlete , Bianca Tarboton , either . She ’ s always up for a challenge , and surely determined to grab a top-five position .
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