{"id":68028,"date":"2024-06-07T15:38:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T15:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance"},"modified":"2024-06-07T16:23:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T16:23:40","slug":"gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance","title":{"rendered":"Gerda Steyn rates rivals as she looks to extend her Comrades dominance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Defending champion Gerda Steyn sounded a strong warning to her rivals in Durban on Friday, saying her preparation for the Comrades Marathon on Sunday had gone well and she was looking to go even faster.\u201cI would love to see myself improving from what I\u2019ve done in the past,\u201d said Steyn, who set the up run best time of 5 hr 58 min 53 sec the last time this iconic event went from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like my training has been up to standard and I’m here in the shape that I was wanting to be in [at] the beginning of the year when I set out my goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year she broke Frith van der Merwe\u2019s 34-year-old best time for the Down run.<\/p>\n

Steyn, pointing out that she had grown considerably since 2019, believed that this year\u2019s women\u2019s field was the toughest she had witnessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the competition, I believe that this year is the strongest female field woman I’ve ever seen and that to me is actually really exciting,\u201d she said at the press conference for elite athletes.Adele Brookryk, who ran the second-fastest down time behind Steyn last year, was upbeat about her chances, even though this will be her first up run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like the underdog and that I\u2019ve got something to prove on Sunday… As a sports scientist I\u2019ve dissected the route forwards, backwards. I made changes to training, I\u2019ve done a lot of hill work. I\u2019m a lot stronger than I was last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steyn believed the R500,000 incentives to break the best time and the fastest average pace, which she holds at 4 min 07,99 sec per kilometre, would be a factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it will bring quite an interesting dynamic to the race. I can\u2019t see it being too strategic, I think it will be a fast race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steyn\u2019s decision to run both the Comrades and the Olympics, which takes place nine weeks later, has come under scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 100% prepared for the Comrades and focusing 100% on the Comrades,\u201d she said, adding she would switch her focus to the Paris Games from Monday.At the beginning of the year she set three goals for herself \u2014 the Two Oceans, where she broke her own 56km record, the Comrades and the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Two-time champion Tete Dijana, who is aiming for a hat-trick, is predicting a tough men\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe race is going to be very difficult and very tactical, but I\u2019m looking forward to it and I\u2019m always expecting the unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dijana said he hadn\u2019t changed his training significantly, but was hoping to go faster than the 6 hr 25 min 03 sec silver medal he did in 2019.<\/p>\n

Piet Wiersma, the fast-finishing Dutch runner who ended second in his Comrades debut last year, insisted he was the favourite.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year in my mind I was the favourite and in my mind this year I\u2019m still the favourite. I feel confident.\u201cI would say I definitely trained better this year, also a lot more hill work. Last year I approached the race without any knowledge about it which worked out for me because my only task was to stay with the group for 60km and then speed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this year I\u2019ve read up more about the race, I spent six weeks in Kenya to train at altitude. This was my first training camp in five years… I cannot promise to win this weekend, but I can promise to run the best race of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edward Mothibi, who won the last up run, said he was looking to improve his time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m prepared and I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Defending champion Gerda Steyn sounded a strong warning to her rivals in Durban on Friday, saying her preparation for the Comrades Marathon on Sunday had gone well and she was looking to go even faster.\u201cI would love to see myself improving from what I\u2019ve done in the past,\u201d said Steyn, who set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":68026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-68028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nGerda Steyn rates rivals as she looks to extend her Comrades dominance - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Defending champion Gerda Steyn sounded a strong warning to her rivals in Durban on Friday, saying her preparation for th ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gerda Steyn rates rivals as she looks to extend her Comrades dominance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defending champion Gerda Steyn sounded a strong warning to her rivals in Durban on Friday, saying her preparation for th ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-07T15:38:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-07T16:23:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/sm_1717764684.455389.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Gerda Steyn rates rivals as she looks to extend her Comrades dominance\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-07T15:38:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-07T16:23:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance\"},\"wordCount\":646,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/06\/sm_1717764684.455389.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/gerda-steyn-rates-rivals-as-she-looks-to-extend-her-comrades-dominance\",\"name\":\"Gerda Steyn rates rivals as she looks to extend her Comrades dominance - 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