Adriaan Wildschutt (left), the new powerhouse in South African road running, clinched the New York City Half Marathon title in 59:30, setting a new course record and reinforcing his status as a world-class athlete with multiple South African records. Picture: Anthonty Grote
Image: Anthonty Grote
Already the SA record holder over the distance, Adriaan Wildschutt once more proved his world-class ability with victory in the New York City Half Marathon title on Sunday.
Wildschutt stormed to victory in 59:30, 11 seconds ahead of American Zouhair Talbi (59:41),who grabbed the runner-up spot on the line ahead of Gulveer Singh (59:42) of India to complete the podium.
The 27-year-old has a major race victory to go with the SA record over 21.1km, which he set at the Valencia Marathon in October last year. The previous mark was held by Stephen Mokoka with his 59:36 set back in 2020. It also means that Wildschutt’s New York victory was also under the previous record mark of Mokoka.
Wildschutt’s record of 59:13 was also his debut appearance over the distance.
It’s no surprise though that Wildschutt is tearing it up on the road as he already holds the SA records in the 5000m and the 5000m on the short track.
Wildschutt was also the 10km SA record holder with his time of 27:28 until late last year when the younger Maxime Chaumeton broke the 27-minute barrier with his time of 26:55 at the Absa Run Your City Gqeberha.
On the track though, Wildschutt also owns the SA records in the 3000 metres (7:32) and the 10,000m (26:50).
The recent performances of Wildschutt therefore suggest that he should be a favourite whenever he lines up for a local road race in South Africa for the foreseeable future.