Tete Dijana triumphs at Comrades while Gerda Steyn secures fourth title

DOWN run king Tete Dijana came out victorious with Piet Wiersma hot on his heels during the 98th edition of the Comrades Marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban yesterday.

- THOBEKA NGEMA [e-mail]

On the women's front, Gerda Steyn made it her fourth Comrades Marathon win.

Dijana said he felt like a real winner, and he was indeed, a “down-run real champion”.

“I was so excited. Very, very excited and also emotional because I remember what happened last year... I was in the best shape, but the devil came, so I was happy that at least the devil didn’t attack me this year,” Dijana said.

“I've been getting pressure from social media saying, ‘don’t let it go again, they used the word again. So I had to fix everything.”

Dijana said he came prepared. His game plan in the morning was eyeing everyone, checking who was leading, but not underestimating his mates.

On Wiersma closing in on him, Dijana said: “In the last 10 kilometres, I saw he was closing in. Then I accelerated a little bit, and then the gap opened.”