Gerda Steyn

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Gerda Steyn
Personal information
Birth nameGerda Steyn
NationalitySouth African
Born (1990-03-03) 3 March 1990 (age 35)
Bothaville, Free State, South Africa
Education University of the Free State
Occupation long-distance runner
Years active2014–present
Sport
CountryFlag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
SportAthletics
Event(s) Marathon, Ultramarathon
ClubPhantane Athletics Club
Coached byself coached
Achievements and titles
Personal bests

Gerda Steyn (born 3 March 1990) is a South African marathon and ultramarathon athlete. She set the down-run record for the 90 km Comrades Marathon in 2023 with a mark of 5:44:54, becoming the fourth woman under 6 hours for that race.[ citation needed ] She also holds the record for the 56 km Two Oceans Marathon and has won that event 6 consecutive times, starting in 2018. [1]

Contents

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.[ citation needed ]

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. [2] After completing her first Comrades in 2015, she met 1991 winner Nick Bester who became her coach. [3]

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 Comrades Marathon in a record time of 5 hours, 58 minutes, and 53 seconds, becoming the first woman to complete the uprun in under six hours. [4]

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. [5]

She competed in the women's marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics. [6]

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. [7]

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. [8]

Results

YearRacePlacePositionTime
2015 Comrades Durban 56th8:19:08
2016 Two Oceans Cape Town 14th4:15:44
Comrades Pietermaritzburg 14th7:08:23
2017 Comrades Durban 4th6:45:45
2018 Two Oceans Cape Town 1st3:39:32
Comrades Pietermaritzburg 2nd6:15:34
New York Marathon New York 13th2:31:04 [9]
2019 Two Oceans Cape Town 1st3:31:28
Comrades Durban 1st5:58:53
New York Marathon New York 11th2:27:48 [9]
2020 London Marathon London 7th2:26:51 [10]
2021Nelson Mandela Bay Half Marathon Port Elizabeth 2nd1:12:14
Giulietta e Romeo Half Marathon Verona 4th1:13:28
Olympic Games Sapporo 15th 2:32:10
Cape Town Marathon Cape Town 4th2:26:25
2022 Two Oceans Cape Town 1st3:29:42 [11]
New York Marathon New York 12th2:30:22
2023 Two Oceans Cape Town 1st3:29:06 [12]
Comrades Durban 1st5:44:54
Valencia Marathon Valencia 11th2:24:03
2024 Two Oceans Cape Town 1st3:26:54 [5]
Comrades Pietermaritzburg 1st5:49:46 [13]
2025 Two Oceans Cape Town 1st3:29:09 [1]

References

  1. 1 2 Daries, Aiden (5 April 2025). "Khoarahlane Seutloali and Gerda Steyn wins 2025 Two Oceans". CapeTownETC.
  2. ↑ "Gerda Steyn: The Tough One". Never stop running. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  3. ↑ https://www.nedbankrunningclub.co.za/News/DisplayNewsItem.aspx?niid=61485
  4. ↑ Andrew Dawson (10 June 2019). "Women's Course Record Shattered at 2019 Comrades Marathon". Runner's World. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  5. 1 2 Botton, Wesley (13 April 2024). "Gerda Steyn shatters record to win fifth Two Oceans title". The Citizen. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ David Isaacson (11 April 2021). "Queen Gerda Steyn breaks 25-year old SA marathon record". Times LIVE. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Marathon Results". Valencia Marathon. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  9. 1 2 "New York Road Runners Official Race Results". results.nyrr.org. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  10. ↑ "Gerda Steyn flies SA flag at London Marathon". Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Sensational Gerda Steyn obliterates course record to claim third Two Oceans title". News24. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "Gerda Steyn smashes her own Two Oceans record". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "Gerda Steyn wins 2024 Women's Comrades Marathon - eNCA". www.enca.com. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
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