Gerda_Steyn

Gerda Steyn

Gerda Steyn

South African marathon athlete

Gerda Steyn (born 3 March 1990) is a South African marathon and ultramarathon athlete. She set the Comrades Marathon down-run record in 2023 with a mark of 5:44:54, becoming the fourth woman under 6 hours for that race.

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On 11 April 2021, she became the SA marathon record holder with a time of 2:25:28 at the Xiamen Tuscany Camp Elite Marathon in Siena, Italy. She then broke her own record at the 2023 Valencia marathon, setting a time of 2:24:03.

Early life

Her parents are Pieter and Trudie Steyn. Gerda grew up on a farm in the Bothaville area and completed her schooling in 2008 at the Bothaville High School. Afterwards, she qualified as a quantity surveyor from the University of the Free State. She has a sister and a brother.[citation needed]

Career

In 2014 she went to work in Dubai and joined a running club, where she discovered her talent for running.[1] After completing her first Comrades in 2015, she met 1991 winner Nick Bester who became her coach.[2]

Her first major career victory was in the 2018 Two Oceans Marathon, in a time of 3:39:32.[citation needed]

She won the 2019 up Comrades Marathon in a record time of 5 hours, 58 minutes and 53 seconds, becoming the first woman to complete the up run in under six hours.[3]

She also won the 2019 Two Oceans Marathon in a time of 3:31:28. She won it for the fifth time in a row in 2024 and broke her course record with a time of 3:26:54.[4]

She competed in the women's marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[5]

Her best time for a standard marathon is the SA record of 2:25:28, achieved in 2021 at the 2021 IAAF Xiamen Tuscany Camp Elite Marathon in Siena, Italy, breaking the previous 25-year-old SA record by more than a minute.[6]

At the 2023 Valencia Marathon Steyn finished in 11th running a time of 2:24:03 becoming the South African national record holder for the event.[7]

Results

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References

  1. [1]
    "Gerda Steyn: The Tough One". Never stop running. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  2. [2]
    https://www.nedbankrunningclub.co.za/News/DisplayNewsItem.aspx?niid=61485
  3. [3]
    Andrew Dawson (10 June 2019). "Women's Course Record Shattered at 2019 Comrades Marathon". Runner's World. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  4. [4]
    Botton, Wesley (13 April 2024). "Gerda Steyn shatters record to win fifth Two Oceans title". The Citizen. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  5. [5]
    "Athletics - STEYN Gerda". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  6. [6]
    David Isaacson (11 April 2021). "Queen Gerda Steyn breaks 25-year old SA marathon record". Times LIVE. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  7. [7]
    "Marathon Results". Valencia Marathon. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  8. [8]
    "New York Road Runners Official Race Results". results.nyrr.org. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  9. [9]
    "New York Road Runners Official Race Results". results.nyrr.org. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  10. [10]
    "Gerda Steyn flies SA flag at London Marathon". Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  11. [11]
    "Sensational Gerda Steyn obliterates course record to claim third Two Oceans title". News24. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  12. [12]
    "Gerda Steyn smashes her own Two Oceans record". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
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