'I'm really excited' - Gerda Steyn recovered and ready for Olympic Marathon

For the purists, Gerda Steyn shouldn’t be at the Olympics at all. For some experts, South Africa’s road running queen known for her record-breaking ultra marathon exploits, should have been classed as a Comrades runner who doesn’t belong on the start line of an Olympic marathon. 

Steyn has been criticised for racing the Totalsports Two Oceans 56km in April and then the Comrades Marathon in June, where she broke both records, with some suggesting that she hasn’t had enough time to recover from the gruelling 85,91km run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg on 9 June. But Steyn thinks otherwise.

“I had three main goals this year, which were Two Oceans, Comrades and the Olympics,” explained the woman who claimed a 15th place finish at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, who argues that she has perfected the recovery and training strategy that saw her run 56km and 86km records in the space of seven weeks.

Steyn in action at Tokyo 2021 where she completed the marathon in 2:32:10 to claim fifteenth position on a hot and humid day in Japan. Photo Credit: Team SA.

"There wasn’t much time for celebrations after Comrades, because I really wanted to give myself the best chance of a fast recovery and it was worth it to be fair. 'The job is not done yet,' is what I kept on thinking after the race and I am glad I did, because the next start line is not exactly a small thing…" she said a month after setting a new Comrades Marathon Up Run record of 5:49:46.

Having only nine weeks to recover between that emotional high of winning the 49th Up Run in record time and lining up in Paris, the country’s fastest woman over the standard marathon (2:24:03), spent most of her time training in the French Alps ahead of the event which will bring the curtain down on the 33rd Olympiad. The Adidas top runner is happy that she managed to complete her training without incident and believes she has recovered well enough to take on the hot and hilly course on the 11th of August.

Gerda Steyn poses with runner-up Alexandra Morozova and third-placed Courtney Olsen after winning the 97th edition of the Comrades Marathon on June 9. Photo Credit: Comrades Marathon Association Media.

"It has been a wonderful past 6 weeks of training and preparation for the big event so to be only a few days away feels a bit surreal but I am sure that reality will strike hard once I get to the village in Paris. There’s not much left to do now, just ticking over, resting up and staying healthy !! I know that times like these don’t come round very often, so there’s maybe a few nerves, but I’m mostly really excited about it all!!!"