ATHLETICS NEWS - Elroy Gelant and Cornelia Joubert secured the national 42km titles on the road on Sunday, after both athletes held on to win a race within a race at the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon.

With the IAAF Gold Label event incorporating the ASA Marathon Championships, Gelant lifted the national men's crown in the colours of Athletics Central North West (ACNW), in only his second attempt at the gruelling distance.

He took fourth place overall in 2:10:31, and though he was more than a minute behind Kenyan Edwin Koech who won the open race in 2:09:20, Gelant shattered his Personal Best by more than two minutes and became the first athlete to achieve the qualifying standard (2:11:30) for next year's Tokyo Olympic Games in the process.

Further back, Sibusiso Nzima finished 10th for the Central Gauteng Athletics (CGA) team in 2:13:41 and Melikhaya Frans was 11th in the colours of Eastern Province Athletics (EPA) in 2:14:57, as they took silver and bronze respectively in the domestic battle.

In the women's race, experienced athlete Cornelia Joubert coasted to a commanding victory in 2:43:21, ending 12th overall to lead a CGA medal sweep in the SA Championships. Twin sisters Lebo Diana (2:50:04) and  Lebogang Phalula (2:53:36) were second and third, respectively.

While local favourite Annie Bothma finished ahead of Joubert, clocking 2:41:44 for 11th place, she was competing as an individual and did not qualify for the inter-provincial podium.

With international athletes dominating the open race, Celestine Chepchirchir set a new Cape Town Marathon course record, crossing the line first in 2:26:44.

“Congratulations to the new national champions and to Elroy for clocking a qualifier for Tokyo,” said ASA President, Aleck Skhosana. “We thank the organisers of the Cape Town Marathon and Western Province Athletics for allowing us to incorporate the ASA Marathon Championships.”