Durban - The Comrades Marathon Association(CMA) announced on Thursday that the 2023 Comrades Marathon top-10 winners had been cleared by the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids) to receive their prize money.
In a statement, the association said Saids had confirmed that all drug-tested athletes who completed this year’s Comrades Marathon had returned negative results for doping.
“This clears the way for more than R4 million in prize money to be paid out by the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) to the deserving athletes,” it said.
CMA race director Rowyn James congratulated the winning runners in all categories on running a phenomenal race on June 11.
“We are also pleased with the Saids confirmation that no athlete who competed in the 2023 Comrades Marathon tested positive for doping; and applaud the athletes for upholding the ethos of fair play and keeping the sport clean,” he said.
Nedbank Running Club’s Tete Dijana won the men’s race in a time of 5:13:58; breaking David Gatebe’s 2016 best time of 5:18:19 by over four minutes.
Phantane Athletics Club’s Gerda Steyn claimed her victory in a time of 5:44:54, breaking Frith van der Merwe’s 34-year stranglehold on the women’s best time of 5:54:43 by more than nine minutes.
The Top 10 results of the 2023 Comrades Marathon are as follows:
