Staff Reporter.
South Africa’s elite distance runners took advantage of an opportunity to clock fast times at sea level, delivering some fine performances at the Endurocad Academy Track Series meeting held at Coetzenburg Stadium in Stellenbosch on Monday night.
One of the country’s brightest middle-distance stars, Ryan Mphahlele, took another big step forward in the early stages of the 2022 season, storming to a world lead and a new personal best in the men’s 1 500m race.
He flew home in 3:35.36, ripping more than a second off the career best (3:36.86) he had set at the ASA Athletics Grand Prix 2 meeting in Cape Town last week, as he clocked the fastest outdoor 1 500m time in the world this year (eight athletes have run faster indoors).
Mphahlele was just 0.36 outside the qualifying standard (3:35.00) for this year’s World Athletics Championships in Eugene, suggesting the former national champion is knocking at the door of another significant breakthrough.
Even though Jerry Motsau was well off Mphahlele’s blistering pace, he held on for second place in 3:39.51, with Nkosinathi Sibiya finishing third in 3:40.30.
In the men’s 5 000m race, local Western Cape star Anthony Timoteus led six athletes under 14 minutes. Timoteus charged to an impressive victory in 13:36.11, opening a gap on runner-up Toka Badboy, who crossed the line in 13:34.56, holding off third-placed Mbuleli Mathanga (13:47.91).
There was also significant depth on display in the women’s 5 000m race, with three athletes dipping below 16 minutes.
Tayla Kavanagh carried her form from the road last year onto the track, winning the race in 15:43.40. In a hard-fought battle, Aynslee van Graan took second position in 15:45.95 and Kyla Jacobs was third in 15:51.92.
“After his loss at the Grand Prix in Cape Town last week, you could see that Mphahlele was totally determined to do even better. Instead of being bitter, he was super-determined to build on that performance. His outdoors world lead is proof of where he wants to be.
“He still has to clock the qualifier though, but he has just shown that he’s almost there. We encourage him to stay focussed with his coaches and support staff, and they must be reminded that there are eight others who ran faster than him indoors this year,” noted James Moloi, the President of Athletics South Africa.