
South Africa's Tete Dijana reclaims Comrades title from rival Wiersma, Gerda Steyn dominates women's race
Rivalries make sports more intriguing. At the Comrades Marathon, a rivalry between South Africa's Tete Dijana and the Netherlands' Piet Wiersma has developed over the past few years. In 2025, it was Dijana who pipped Wiersma to victory.
It is Dijana's third overall success at the Comrades, following victories in 2022 and 2023. In the latter race Wiersma finished just three seconds behind Dijana. This year the gap was slightly larger, as former North West University security guard Dijana crossed the finish line in 5:25:28. His Dutch rival was five seconds adrift.
'In my first 30km it was a little tough because I did not get enough rest yesterday. It must have been anxiety or something,' Dijana told SuperSport after the race.
Dijana said reclaiming the Comrades title from Wiersma was all about 'corrections'. This after a disappointing title defence in 2024, when he suffered severe cramps and ended up in 14th place. Despite the intense pressure from his rival chasing him down this year, Dijana said he was calm in the run-in.
'In the last 10km I saw that he (Wiersma) was closing the gap and I accelerated a little bit to open a bigger gap. It was under control,' he said.
After the race Wiersma acknowledged that he and Dijana now have a fully fledged rivalry. The 27-year-old said he would return again in 2028 to try to wrestle back his crown back from Dijana, who is 10 years his senior.
'I am a much better athlete than I was two years ago. I've done better training and I'm running full-time now. But I was not 100% today, I barely slept over the last three nights. I had stomach issues and I suspect some food poisoning. But Tete was the best today. Congratulations to him,' Wiersma said.
'I'll be back. Tete is clearly the down-run king right now. But I hope I can be the up-run king with a victory next year,' the Dutchman added.
Russian Nikolai Volkov laboured to third place in 5:29:42, with South Africans Edward Mothibi and Joseph Manyedi closing off the men's top five.
Queen of the Comrades
As expected, Gerda Steyn was the winner of the women's race. The defending champion crossed the finish line in 5:51:19. It's Steyn fourth overall success in the Comrades. The 2022 winner, Alexandra Morozova, was a distant second (5:55:56).
In third place, Kenya's Shelmith Muruiki made history as she became the first black woman to finish on the Comrades podium. South African Olympian Irvette van Zyl was fourth on her Comrades debut.
'What a day out here. I was taken away by the amazing support of the crowd. It's something I can't explain in words… I hope that with my God-given talent I can inspire some young girls to aspire to one day be runners – even if it's not as professionals,' said Steyn after her dominant performance.
'As for the race? It went according to plan and I'm very pleased to have bettered my pace from two years ago. It was an excellent day… Judging by the depth of the field we saw today, we'll see times decreasing more and more in the years to come,' Steyn added.
About 22,000 runners started the 98th edition of the 'ultimate human race'. Due to this large contingent, the race organisers divided the runners into two groups – with the elite runners starting at 5.45am and the rest of the entrants beginning the trek from Pietermaritzburg to Durban 15 minutes later.
All this in preparation for the centenary race of the Comrades in 2027, where the largest crowd is expected to be at the start line. DM
Top five
Men
Tete Dijana (RSA) 5:25:28;
Piet Wiersma (NED) +00:05;
Nikolai Volkov (RUS) +04:13;
Edward Mothibi (RSA) +06:13;
Joseph Manyedi (RSA) +06:41
Women
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


eNCA
4 hours ago
- eNCA
Verstappen begins new Red Bull era with Belgian sprint win
Max Verstappen welcomed new Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies to the race team on Saturday with an immaculate gift-wrapped triumph in the sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix. The 27-year-old Dutchman, who started from second on the grid, seized the lead on the opening lap and then resisted all threats from series leader Oscar Piastri who had to defend attacks from McLaren team-mate Lando Norris who finished third. It was a consummate performance from Verstappen who ran with a low downforce set-up to give him a straight-line speed advantage – for which he was congratulated by Mekies, appointed on July 9 to replace Red Bull's former boss Christian Horner who was dismissed unexpectedly after 20 years at the helm. "That worked out really well," said a delighted Verstappen after thanking Mekies on the team radio. "We got an opportunity at turn five and took it and then it was tough to keep those two behind. "It was cat and mouse with battery usage and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes, although I had one lock-up – it is so difficult to keep faster cars behind so it was all really at the limit. Not easy! But we did it." Mekies was equally satisfied. "Max was brilliant and all the guys did a great job," said the former boss of Reb Bull's 'B' team Racing Bulls. "He was under massive pressure and he made almost no mistakes and the team extracted everything from the car and the tyres." - Hamilton misery - The leading trio were separated by only 1.4 seconds at the finish, leaving Charles Leclerc a distant fourth for Ferrari, 10 seconds adrift, ahead of Haas's Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz of Williams. Piastri said: "I tried my best to snake through on the straight and not give too much tow (on the opening lap) but I didn't have enough straight-line speed. Still, this is a good result, good points and it's only the sprint. Yeah, but it's annoying I couldn't get past him. Norris said: "There wasn't a lot going on after, obviously, a bit of fun at the start and maybe I could have positioned myself a little better. But it was too difficult to get past Max. He drove a good race." Piastri's success in beating Norris, who on Sunday will seek a third consecutive Grand Prix win, extended his lead in the title race from eight points to nine. Piastri made a good start from pole position, but Verstappen showed he had greater straight-line speed with his 'skinny' rear wing set-up and after pulling alongside into Raidillon, he powered into the lead at Les Combes. Lewis Hamilton's miserable weekend continued as he toiled to advance after starting from 18th, following his spin at the chicane in Friday's sprint qualifying. On lap 12, Piastri moved within 0.3 seconds of Verstappen, but he was unable to execute a move on the run uphill from La Source while behind him Norris forced him to defend vigorously against his team-mate. McLaren's intra-team tussle did little to help either driver haul in Verstappen and he was in charge as he delivered his 12th sprint win to mark new boss Mekies' maiden race with Red Bull following Horner's exit.


The South African
5 hours ago
- The South African
Why Relebohile Mofokeng has not left Orlando Pirates
Orlando Pirates legend Steve 'Chippa' Lekoelea has given his thoughts on why Relebohile Mofokeng has yet to leave the club. The 20-year-old has attracted interest from teams abroad, but it appears that no official offer was made. His peer and former teammate Mohau Nkota has since left the Buccaneers for Saudi this pre-season. Lekoelea feels Mofokeng wants to preserve his relationship, hence he's not pushing for a move away from Orlando Pirates. 'It's a decision that will ultimately be made by Irvin Khoza and the club regarding whether they will allow him to play overseas,' Chippa said as per KickOff . 'Personally, I believe Rele wants to move abroad, especially since his friend Mohau Nkota has already signed with an overseas team. However, he's hesitant to push for a move because he doesn't want to damage his relationship with Orlando Pirates. I don't think he wants to burn any bridges. 'He understands the significance of Pirates as a major club, and they are committed to handling matters professionally. Before any deal is settled with interested teams, they want to ensure that both the club and Rele are satisfied. That's my opinion,' he said. 'We can claim that he is ready for overseas play, but the reality is that it always depends on a player's mental and physical fitness. The atmosphere abroad is quite different from that of local leagues. 'However, I believe in his talent; he is a good player. If given at least four games to adjust, overseas teams will truly see the best of him. 'I am confident that a wise decision will be made for the boy's future, ' Lekoelea said. Mofokeng has been with Orlando Pirates for their pre-season training in Spain, where they played four matches. The club has refuted claims that the Dutch side PSV were offering R100 million for the winger. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.

TimesLIVE
6 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Verstappen starts new Red Bull era with Spa sprint victory
Formula One champion Max Verstappen won a "cat and mouse" Belgian Grand Prix sprint on Saturday in Red Bull's first race under the leadership of Laurent Mekies following Christian Horner's dismissal. McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri finished second, after taking a dominant pole position for the 100km race, with the Australian increasing his advantage over teammate Lando Norris to nine points. Norris ended up where he started, in third place on a bright afternoon at the longest and second fastest track on the calendar. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari with Haas's Esteban Ocon fifth and Carlos Sainz sixth for Williams. Haas's Oliver Bearman and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar completed the scoring positions. Qualifying for what could be a soggy main grand prix at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday followed later. "Well done Max. Very, very impressive defence, very well controlled. You didn't leave anything on the table there," Mekies told Verstappen over the team radio after the Dutch driver took the chequered flag. Verstappen, starting second, used straightline speed to slipstream into the lead at les Combes on lap one and held off Piastri for the remaining 14, with the Australian 0.753 seconds behind at the flag. The win was Verstappen's first, in either a sprint or grand prix, since Imola in May and it was knife-edge all the way. "I knew of course it was going to be very tough to keep them behind. So it's just playing like cat and mouse, DRS, battery usage," he said as the large contingent of Dutch fans celebrated. "The whole race was within seven tenths, so I couldn't afford to make big mistakes. I had one tiny lockup in the last corner, but apart from that it was, for us, a great result to keep them behind. "You have to drive over the limit of what's possible. Tyre management goes out of the window. I did 15 qualifying laps to keep them behind on a track where tyre management is important."