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South African long-distance runner
Gert Thys
(born 12 November 1971) is a male
long-distance runner
from
South Africa
, who represented his native country in the
marathon
at the
1996
and
2004 Summer Olympics
. Thys is a former
African record
holder in the marathon, and is the current holder of the
South African record
with his best of 2:06:33 from the 1999
Tokyo International Marathon
, which was also the course record for that race.
[1]
Biography
[
edit
]
Thys was born in
Prieska
,
Northern Cape
. He represented South Africa in the marathon at four consecutive editions of the
World Championships in Athletics
from 1999 to 2005. He has also competed at the
IAAF World Half Marathon Championships
on three occasions, highlighted by top six finishes in 1997 and 1998.
[2]
Thys is a two-time winner of the
Beppu-?ita Marathon
and his time of 2:08:30 set in 1996 remains the course record.
[3]
He was also a
cross country runner
earlier on in his career and was the 1994 winner of the
Chiba International Cross Country
.
[4]
He also had success in East Asia at the
Seoul International Marathon
, where he won three times between 2003 and 2006, as well as taking the runner-up spot in 2005. However, he was disqualified after his 2006 win because his
doping test
at the race was positive for the banned steroid
norandrosterone
.
[5]
Thys contested the outcome and a protracted hearing following his competitive ban by
Athletics South Africa
eventually resulted in his exoneration. Laboratory errors in processing his sample meant the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
CAS found in his favour.
[6]
[7]
In May 2010 the
Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland
overruled this decision, declaring that the CAS has no jurisdiction over this case.
[8]
Thys successfully argued to the court that the fact that the same technician had analysed both his positive samples (a breach of the anti-doping rules) had meant that the validity of the tests could not stand. His doping ban was overturned on this basis in 2012 and he was re-instated as the winner of the 2006 Seoul Marathon.
[9]
His extensive running career, which began at the age of thirteen, has taken in around forty competitive marathons. He came close to victory at the 2010
Beijing Marathon
, but he slowed in the final stages and was runner-up to
Siraj Gena
.
[10]
Achievements
[
edit
]
Year
|
Competition
|
Venue
|
Position
|
Event
|
Notes
|
Representing
South Africa
|
1993
|
Lake Biwa Marathon
|
?tsu Japan
|
3rd
|
Marathon
|
2:11:40
|
Fukuoka Marathon
|
Fukuoka, Japan
|
2nd
|
Marathon
|
2:09:31
|
1995
|
New York City Marathon
|
New York City
,
United States
|
11th
|
Marathon
|
2:13:28
|
1996
|
Olympic Games
|
Atlanta, United States
|
33rd
|
Marathon
|
2:18:55
|
Beppu-?ita Marathon
|
Beppu
-
?ita
,
Japan
|
1st
|
Marathon
|
2:08:30
|
Reims a Toutes Jambes
|
Reims, France
|
3rd
|
Marathon
|
2:11:13
|
1997
|
Beppu-?ita Marathon
|
Beppu
-
?ita
,
Japan
|
2nd
|
Marathon
|
2:13:14
|
Gold Coast Marathon
|
Brisbane
,
Australia
|
2nd
|
Marathon
|
2:11:55
|
1998
|
Boston Marathon
|
Boston
,
United States
|
3rd
|
Marathon
|
2:07:52
|
Chicago Marathon
|
Chicago
,
United States
|
3rd
|
Marathon
|
2:07:45
|
1999
|
Tokyo Marathon
|
Tokyo, Japan
|
1st
|
Marathon
|
2:06:33
|
World Championships
|
Seville
, Spain
|
15th
|
Marathon
|
2:17:13
|
2000
|
London Marathon
|
London
,
United Kingdom
|
12th
|
Marathon
|
2:11:32
|
Fukuoka Marathon
|
Fukuoka, Japan
|
7th
|
Marathon
|
2:14:28
|
2001
|
London Marathon
|
London
,
United Kingdom
|
10th
|
Marathon
|
2:12:11
|
World Championships
|
Edmonton, Canada
|
?
|
Marathon
|
DNF
|
2002
|
Seoul International Marathon
|
Seoul
,
South Korea
|
4th
|
Marathon
|
2:12:46
|
New York City Marathon
|
New York City
,
United States
|
7th
|
Marathon
|
2:11:48
|
2003
|
Tokyo International Marathon
|
Tokyo, Japan
|
7th
|
Marathon
|
2:12:51
|
Seoul International Marathon
|
Seoul
,
South Korea
|
1st
|
Marathon
|
2:08:42
|
World Championships
|
Paris
, France
|
30th
|
Marathon
|
2:15:00
|
2004
|
Seoul International Marathon
|
Seoul
,
South Korea
|
1st
|
Marathon
|
2:07:06
|
Olympic Games
|
Athens
, Greece
|
16th
|
Marathon
|
2:16:08
|
Fukuoka Marathon
|
Fukuoka, Japan
|
4th
|
Marathon
|
2:14:27
|
2005
|
Seoul International Marathon
|
Seoul, South Korea
|
2nd
|
Marathon
|
2:11:19
|
World Championships
|
Helsinki
, Finland
|
?
|
Marathon
|
DNF
|
2006
|
Beppu-?ita Marathon
|
Beppu
-
?ita
,
Japan
|
1st
|
Marathon
|
2:09:45
|
Seoul International Marathon
|
Seoul, South Korea
|
1st
|
Marathon
|
2:10:40
|
References
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]
External links
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]