Cape Town - One of the best female athletes in the world, the holder of four world records and two world bests, Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba has announced that she will run in the Absa Run Your City Durban 10K on July 10.
After finishing third at the first event of the series, event organiser, Stillwater Sports, has confirmed that Dibaba will be back to again attempt a world-class 10km time in the second event in the series in Durban. She will join thousands of other runners as they #RunForDurban to raise money for people severely affected by the recent floods in KZN.
“Having Genzebe Dibaba race in Durban is a massive privilege and confirms that we are serious about bringing the best in the world to South Africa to race against SA’s finest on home soil,” says Michael Meyer, Managing Director of Stillwater Sports, and founder of the Absa Rub Your City Series.
“Our goal is to give South Africans world-class competition and this series is doing just that. That Dibaba comes here to race shows that we are on the right track to achieving this objective. The cherry on top is that, although an athlete like Dibaba is in demand worldwide, she has expressed a strong desire to run in Durban to again experience a world-class event on African soil.”
“I have unfinished business, as I came here to win and run a fast time, so I will be back,” were the words of Dibaba after her third-place finish at the Cape Town event earlier this year. Dibaba crossed the line in 31:02, the third-fastest time ever run in South Africa by a female athlete.
Now she has her sights set on returning to South Africa to race in Durban – and is eager to break the SA All-Comers record of 30:40 set by Stella Chesang in the Cape Town leg of the series on 15 May 2022.
Genzebe Dibaba is arguably the best athlete to set foot on South African soil and her appearance in Cape Town was a massive coup for Stillwater Sports.
Dibaba, although running a superb 31:02 in Cape Town felt she could have gone faster in her 10km debut on the road and is eager to see just how much faster she can go.
“I made some mistakes and it cost me in Cape Town,” said Dibaba. “But this was only my first ever 10km and only my third road race, so I am still learning how to race on the roads. It is very different to the track.”
And it is on the track, on the bouncy curves of the indoor circuit, that Dibaba was so dominant with four gold medals at the World Indoor Championships in the 1500m and the 3000m to go with the world indoor records in the mile, 3000m and 5000m.
The 31-year-old Dibaba still holds the 1500m world record outdoors and the fastest ever times over the 2000m (5:23.75) and 2miles (9:00.48) indoors.
IOL Sport