Rivers Williams and Zelda Botha emerged triumphant in the men's and women's 21.1km races, producing standout performances at the ASA Race Walking Trials held at LC de Villiers Sports Grounds of the University of Pretoria on Saturday.
In the men's contest, national 20km champion Williams (competing for Tuks Athletics Club) won in 1:34:40 in the first half-marathon race since World Athletics made adjustments to championship race walking distances. Behind him, Tumisang Pule (Eyethu AC) earned second spot in 1:37:02, holding off a challenge from Antonio Farmer (Athletics Central North West), who ended third in 1:37:53.
Botha also took a comfortable win for Central Gauteng Athletics in the women's half-marathon race in 1:52:55. National champion Marissa Swanepoel (Boxer AC) grabbed the runner-up spot in 1:55:30 and Janise Nell (ACNW) was third in 1:58:15.
"I have already qualified (for the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Brazil in April), but I had to come here and show my worth, so I knew I had to win," said Botha, who won the national 20km title in 2021 before undergoing hip surgery which sidelined her from the sport for a couple of years.
"I was out front on my own for the last seven kilometres, and that's tough because you never know how the other people are feeling behind you, so it was a mental challenge, especially at the end."
Among the other highlights, over the unofficial 30km distance, Sizwe Ndebele (Eyethu AC) won a tight battle in 2:41:17, with Aron Mahlangu (KZNA) finishing just six seconds off the pace in 2:41:23.
Marizel Meintjies (ACNW) completely dominated the women's 30km event, securing victory in 3:06:36, with Puleng Motsoeneng (CGA) taking the runner-up spot in 3:30:19.
In the U20 10km events, Jordan Muvale (CGA) won the men's race in 53:42 and Lee Sue Nyathi (Tuks AC) took the women's contest in 54:57.