Dijana triumphed in the 98th running of the Comrades, completing the 89.98km “down run” from Pietermaritzburg in a time of 5:25:28, holding off Piet Wiersma of the Netherlands by a mere 5.73 seconds.

Nikolai Volkov, of Russia, finished third, trailing by 4 minutes and 13.98 seconds off the pace.

Tete Dijana. Photo: X

In the women’s race, Steyn had to dig deep in the final stretch to secure her fourth Comrades victory. She showed visible signs of fatigue over the last 15km, but her trademark smile returned as she crossed the finish line, reaffirming her status as a national favourite.

Steyn completed the race in 5:51:19, continuing her dominance of South African ultrarunning. Russia’s Alexandra Morozova finished second in 5:55:56, just 4 minutes and 37 seconds behind. Kenya’s Shelmith Muriuki rounded off the women’s podium in third place with a time of 6:07:56, an impressive debut performance in her first Comrades.

In a post-race interview with SuperSport, Steyn expressed heartfelt gratitude for the overwhelming support she received.

“What a day out on the road – again, I was just blown away by the amazing support from the crowds,” said Steyn.

“The support I received is something I truly can’t describe in words. Today’s run was dedicated to everyone who’s been behind me – my friends, my family, the volunteers, the supporters. I hope that with my God-given talent, I can inspire young girls to take up running. Not necessarily professionally – just to enjoy the sport and make it their own.”

Reflecting on the race strategy, Steyn added that she had to manage the closing kilometres carefully after hearing that Morozova was narrowing the gap.

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South Africa's Queen of Marathon running wins the 2025 Comrades Marathon ????

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“Of course, I got word on the road that the lead was shrinking quite a bit at one stage,” she said.

“At one point, the gap between Alexandra and me closed from four minutes to about two. She’s such a strong competitor and ran an incredible race. With the depth of talent we’re seeing, I think the gap between top runners will only keep closing in the coming years.”

Former Olympian Irvette van Zyl, running her first-ever Comrades, finished in a strong fourth place with a time of 6:11:35.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg