RSA’s Elite Triathlon ladies, Gillian Sanders and Mari Rabie, made their mark at the Rio Olympics.  By claiming 11th spot, Mari Rabie became the best placed South African female triathlete at an Olympic Triathlon event. Best achieved before now was a 19th position at the 2012 London Olympic games by Gillian Sanders.

Twenty Nine year old Mari Rabie was the fourth athlete to exit the water, a mere 3 seconds behind Spain’s Carolina Routier. Sanders followed in 42nd position, a further 46 seconds down. Rabie maintained her position in the lead group throughout the bike leg and was the first athlete to dismount and head onto the run course. Three Minutes into the run Rabie fell back into 6th position. Sanders left T2 in 38th position with a 3min17sec deficit. On lap 3 of 4 Rabie had fallen back to 14th position, 1min36sec down on Jorgensen’s lead. Rabie managed to find another gear and leapfrogged three athletes to cross the finish line in 11th position, 2min57sec after Jorgensen became the olympic champion. Sanders finished in 23d position, 5min13sec down on Jorgensen’s winning time.

Rabie’s 11th position at the Olympics is quite an improvement for her from the 2008 Olympic games where she came 43rd after having had a mechanical on her bike. With Rabie being an excellent swimmer and cyclist, any improvements in her running ability will see her creeping to the top and we could well see a top 5, or even a medal, at the Olympics in four years time.

Years of hard work payed off for these ladies and Triathlon South Africa are proud of them for their remarkable performances at the Rio Olympics.