Cian Oldknow, Irvette van Zyl prepare for Paris Olympics at SA half-marathon champs

HOLLYWOOD Athletics Club teammates Cian Oldknow and Irvette van Zyl will have Paris on their minds when they bounce their way through the flat and fast course in Gqeberha during the Athletics South Africa (ASA) half-marathon championships at the weekend.

Their majority of adversaries, on the other hand, will be thinking about San Diego.

The 21.1km race taking place on Saturday is a trial for a place in Team SA’s squad for next year’s World Athletics Road Running Championships, to be hosted by the California city.

Oldknow, having recently been crowned as the SA marathon champion, would no doubt definitely be keen to go back to the world championships, having been part of the country’s team that competed in Riga, Latvia last time around.

But the Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) representative has much bigger fish to fry in two months’ time, and will therefore not be competing for glory in Gqeberha, but rather to fine-tune her preparations for the Olympic Games in the French capital in August.

It’s the same for Van Zyl, who will be turning out for Athletics Gauteng North (AGN) in the Windy City.

The multiple Soweto Marathon champion is eager to make final touches to her training block in her endeavour to finally earn that title of Olympian, following three failed attempts at completing in the marathon at the Games.

ASA president James Moloi says it is all systems go for this weekend, and he expects that the rest of their provinces will be sending strong squads that will ensure the competition is of top quality.

“Our provinces and athletes know how important this event is as it serves as a selection process for next year’s world championships. So, we are urging provinces to send their strongest teams, and all athletes who aspire to represent South Africa must be in Gqeberha to book their spots for San Diego.”

PARIS OLYMPICS 2024 HERE I COME😍🇿🇦🏃🏻‍♀️💫

Officially been selected to represent South Africa in the marathon at the Olympics later this year🥹 Dreams do come true, but you gotta work hard for them😜 pic.twitter.com/9yKRf32W6u

— Cian Oldknow (@cianoldknow) May 15, 2024

With Team South Africa having earned a bronze medal at the last world championships in the men’s section and the women having also finished in a good fifth place, there is every reason to expect a pretty competitive battle among the provinces.

Defending champions Thabang Mosiako and Glenrose Xaba are confirmed participants, and will be out to hold on to their respective titles.

But they should expect to be given a run for their money by the likes of Precious Mashele, national marathon champion Elroy Gelant and Matthews Leeto, as well as Cacisile Sosibo and even Oldknow and Van Zyl.