Cian Oldknow was the shining star for Team SA in the Paris Olympics women's marathon when she finished highest of the country's three participants Sunday morning.
Irvette Van Zyl finally completed the marathon at the fourth time of asking and can now call herself an Olympian, while Gerda Steyn ran her season's best time in the distance but came in way behind in relation to her target and capabilities.
The Games debutant Oldknow crossed the finish line in 32nd place in a time of 2:30:29, a good eight minutes behind winner Siffan Hassan of The Netherlands.
Oldknow had set herself a target of finishing in the top 15, but such was the frenetic pace of the race which saw Hassan win her third medal of the Games via a sprint finiish ahead of world record holder Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia, that South Africa's national marathon champion had to be content with her position just outside the top 30.
Sifan Hassan does the impossible 😲
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 11, 2024
Two bronze medals on the track and now gold and an Olympic Record in the Women's Marathon 🔥![CDATA[]]>🔥
🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 South Africa's results - Cian Oldknow (32), Irvette van Zyl (37) and Gerda Steyn (45) 💪#Paris2024 | #CloserToYourChampions pic.twitter.com/Q5c645TQrQ
Big achievement
Van Zyl was just five positions behind her Hollywood Athletics Club teammate in what was a significant achievement for the 37-year-old from Pretoria.
Van Zyl had previously qualified for three Olympics, but lined up in Paris without any finishes.
At London 2012, Van Zyl made her marathon debut but pulled out of the race at the 17km mark due to a severe Achilles tendonitis in her left leg.
At the Rio Olympics four years thereafter, she couldn’t even toe the start line as she had to fly back home due to an injury.
She went to Tokyo three years ago intent on making it third-time lucky. But it was not to be.
“In 2021 two days before the race I felt a pain in my back, afterwards it was confirmed I had a stress fracture. I ran until 23 and then I just cramped up and I could not run anymore.”
No surprise then that she crossed the finish line in Paris with a huge smile on her face in a time of 2:31:14.
There was no smile on Steyn's face though, the golden girl of South African running coming in at 45th place with a 2:32:51 - a far cry from her targeted top-10.
Steyn went into the race as the best of the South Africans and much was expected of her given her 15th place finish in Tokyo.
It was not immediately clear as to what went wrong for her, but the educated guess would be that her exertions from winning both the Two Oceans and Comrades Marathons in record time might have taken a lot out of her.