Josiah Thugwane

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Josia Thugwane (also: Josiah Thugwane , born April 22, 1971 in Bethal , South Africa ) is a South African marathon runner and the first black Olympic champion in his country.

His first success was in 1993 when he won the South African Marathon Championships. In 1995 he won the Honolulu Marathon . After qualifying for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he narrowly escaped life in a robbery when a pistol hit his chin.

Even so, he won the Atlanta marathon in the tightest finish ever at the Olympic Games, three seconds ahead of Lee Bong-ju (KOR) and eight seconds ahead of Erick Wainaina (KEN). In 1997 he was able to continue his series of successes when he finished third in the London Marathon and won the Fukuoka Marathon with his personal best of 2:07:28 h. After that, he was troubled by injuries and the death of his coach Jacques Malan, and so he only finished 20th at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney .

In 2002 he made an impressive comeback with a victory at the Nagano Marathon .

In 2011 he received the Order of Ikhamanga in silver.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of recipients of the medal 2011 (English), accessed on June 20, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Thugwane, Josiah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thugwane, Josiah (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African marathon runner
DATE OF BIRTH April 22, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Bethal , South Africa