"I'm incredibly blessed," - Kavanagh become first SA Woman to clock sub 15 minute 5km as she takes 4th at World Road Running Champs

Tayla Kavanagh stole the South African show on day one of the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark when she smashed the SA 5km record and missed out on the bronze medal by just one position. The reigning SA 5000m and 10 000m champion delivered a scintillating 14:51 performance to finish fourth overall in a star-studded field where she lost the bronze medal to Rose Davies of Australia by a mere second.

In so doing, the 25-year-old Hollywood Athletics Club top runner etched herself into the history books as she shattered the long-standing national record of 15:10 which was set by the great Elana Meyer nearly 32 years ago. In the process, Kavanagh became the first South African woman to dip under 15 minutes for 5km on the road.

Kavanagh with Elana Meyer whose record she broke. Photo Credit: Supplied.

Speaking to the media moments after her historic race in the danish capital, Kavanagh, who has been in red-hot form this year having also recorded new personal best times over 5,000m (14:58.49) and 10km (31:26), stated she was happy with the progress as she finished 15th place during the last edition of the World Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia in 2023. 

"I don't think I’ve fully digested the race as yet. The adrenaline is still pumping. I'm incredibly blessed and super happy with my performance today. Looking back to three years ago, I ran 15:50 to finish 15th overall then today I delivered 14:51, which is like almost minute faster to come fourth. That is the huge progress. I'm very proud of how I managed to execute today's race. I'm super happy to represent the country and perform like this.” 

Kavanagh in action at the 2023 World Road Running Championships where she took 15th place. Photo Credit: Supplied.

Kavanagh further revealed that she had not set her sights on Meyer’s SA Record. It was only after halfway into the race that she learnt that she was well inside the record mark. 

"My biggest goal coming into the race was to be competitive. I wanted to put myself out there and leave it all on the course. At around 3km, I saw the time on the clock, and realised that I was on course to break the record. I didn't go to the race with that expectation of trying to run the record. So overall, I'm thrilled that I walked away with the SA record taking 19 seconds off it.” 

Kavanagh wasn't only athlete that delivered a national record as Tshepo Tshite added another record to his collection as he clocked a wonderful 03:55:66 to finish 10th overall in the men's mile race. The 29-year-old Tshite who is already the fastest SA athlete of all time over 1 500m both indoors and outdoors bettered the previous mark of 3:56.5h run by Ryan Mphahlele in April 2024. Boxer Athletics Club athlete Karabo More who is the reigning African 1500m champion impressed with an excellent 04:33:27 clocking, which is also a new road mile SA Record. She ended up finishing 15th overall against a quality. 

Meanwhile, South African 5km record (13:06) holder Maxime Chaumeton clocked 13:13 in the men's 5km race to take 10th place in a race that provided a dramatic finish as Dawit Seare of Eritrea edged out two-time Olympic champion Jacob Ingebrigtsen in the last 50m stretch to win in 12:56. Ingebrigtsen ran a Norwegian record 12:59. Thapelo Ramakhoase ran a respectable 13:43 to end in 34th.