Tete Dijana wins 2025 Men's Comrades Marathon
The finish line of the 2025 Comrades Marathon. Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
DURBAN - Tete Dijana has won the men's 2025 Comrades Marathon.
He crossed the finish line ahead of Piet Wiersma, who won the race last year.
Dijana won the race twice -- in 2022 and 2023 -- but finished 14th last year.
Your 2025 #ComradesMarathon winner! Tete Dijana. 🥇 #NedbankRunningClub pic.twitter.com/6PsYzVDTgA
— Nedbank Sport (@nedbanksport) June 8, 2025
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Daily Maverick
17 minutes ago
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South Africa's Tete Dijana reclaims Comrades title from rival Wiersma, Gerda Steyn dominates women's race
Tete Dijana won the third Comrades Marathon title of his career, fending off heavy competition from Dutchman Piet Wiersma, while Gerda Steyn was peerless in the 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
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‘It was under control,' says Dijana on another epic Comrades clash with Wiersma
Tete Dijana, the 2025 Comrades Marathon winner, said he was 'in full control' even as Dutchman and Nedbank Running Club teammate Piet Wiersma made a charge in the last 2km to close the gap to within about 50m. Dijana and Wiersma's rivalry is becoming the stuff of Comrades legend. The South African, a former security guard from Mahikeng in the North West, pipped the Dutchman by three seconds in a sprint finish in the 2023 down run. Wiersma — after becoming a full-time runner and, as he did ahead of this Sunday's race too, toughening himself in a pre-race camp in the Kenyan mountains in Spartan conditions — won his first Comrades in last year's up run, where Dijana limped over the line with cramps in 14th. Dijana — who clinched his third Comrades win, adding to those won in the successive down runs of in 2022 and 2023 — ran another down tactical masterclass on Sunday, crediting Nedbank Running coaching guru Dave Adams for the plan.
IOL News
an hour ago
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Steyn secures fourth Comrades, grateful for rising competition
Gerda Steyn won hewre fourth Comrades on Sunday. Photo: Leon Lestrade Independent Media Image: Leon Lestrade Independent Media The reign is likely to continue unabated — at least for the foreseeable future. But there's every reason to believe it will not be the no-contest it had been in previous years. Gerda Steyn's fourth victory in the Comrades Marathon was not as compellingly dominant as her previous three. The Smiling Assassin beat second-placed Alexandra Morozova by just three minutes, clocking 5:51:09 in Sunday's Down Run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. Steyn sportingly welcomed the challenge, with the Russian runner — who won three years ago in her absence — just a minute behind at one stage of the race. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ 'To have had that competition was also good, not just for me to raise my performance but also for the race,' Steyn said, during the post-race media conference deep in the bowels of the Moses Mabhida Stadium. 'It is no surprise to see a tight time of only three minutes between us, because Alexandra had done well. We can expect faster times to come — and Comrades deserves it.' The Hollywood Athletics Club star said she relishes being challenged and enjoys seeing more talented runners enter the race because 'it is exciting to get competition. "As I said in the pre-race conference," she added, "we are entertainers, and I hope it (the race) was great to watch. It is not a one-woman show. "When I heard Alex (Morozova) had gained a minute on me at Fields Hill, it made me work harder. The competition makes me want to be in my very best shape whenever I go into the race.' Queen of Comrades! 👑🇿🇦 Gerda Steyn crossed the finish line in 5:51:19 to secure her 4th Comrades Marathon title! A phenomenal performance from Gerda.🏃♀️🔥#Comrades2025 #TeamSA #ForMyCountry — Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) June 8, 2025
