The 96th two-oceans Comrades Marathon saw the men’s and women’s victors smash the 2016 and 1989 records to set an exhilarating finish at this year’s edition in South Africa.

Sunday | June 11, 2023

The 2022 Comrades Marathon winner Tete Dijana came up trumps once again in the 2023 race in KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa on Sunday.

Starting in Pietermaritzburg and ending in Durban, Dijana smashed the 5:18:38 record and set a new time of 5:13:58. Noteworthy, this year’s race was revised downwards from 90 kilometers (km) to 87.7 km.

For his triumph, Dijana walked away with R500, 000 prize money and an additional R500, 000 for the best time. The 35-year-old was born in Mafikeng in the North West Province.

The second position was taken by Piet Wiersa from Netherlands and pocketed R250, 000 for his efforts. Meanwhile the 2019 winner Edward Mothibi collected R180, 000 for emerging third in the men’s ultra-marathon race.

Steyn’s historic victory

On the female athletes, Gerda Steyn won with a 5:44:54 time, a new record on its own. She surpassed the 5:54:43 time set in 1989 by Frith van der Merwe.

Hailing from Bothaville in the Free State, the new queen of the longest marathon in the world reached this milestone at the age of 33.

Together with the gold medal and the trophy, Steyn took home a cool R500, 000 as a winner and R500, 000 for breaking the record.

Second-placed Adele Broodryk bagged R250, 000 and third-placed Carla Molinaro R180, 000. All three female winners are South African.