NATIONAL NEWS - Ultra-distance specialist Caroline Wostmann is the only South African athlete in the elite line-up for the New York Marathon on Sunday.
She will take confidence from a long list of fine performances produced by her compatriots since the early Nineties.
These are the top five results by SA athletes at the New York Marathon since readmission to international sport:
Willie Mtolo, 1992 (1st place in 2:09:29):
Mtolo had already proved his ability during isolation after setting a personal best of 2:08:15, albeit it on an aided course, in Port Elizabeth in 1986. Without the chance to compete overseas, he had stepped up in distance and finished second in the 1989 Comrades Marathon. With foreign doors finally opened, he tried his hand again at the Olympic distance and capped a superb 42km career be becoming the first South African to win the New York Marathon. He finished more than a minute clear of second-placed Mexican athlete Andres Espinosa.
