After five races, two Ethiopians Tadu Nare and Selam Gebre have opened a significant lead on the 2022 Spar Grand Prix Women’s 10km standings.
Nare, who won the Grand Prix in 2021, after finishing second in 2019, has 149 points after winning the Joburg leg of the Grand Prix series on Sunday.
She was second in Gqeberha, but won the Durban, Mbombela, Tshwane and Johannesburg races.
Grand Prix technical coordinator Ian Laxton said it is still technically possible for Gebre, who has 141 points, to overtake her Nedbank teammate, but this will require her to beat Nare by at least nine places in the final race in Cape Town on October 23.
Gebre was third in Gqeberha, Durban, Mbombela and Johannesburg, and second in Tshwane.
The 2019 champion, Helalia Johannes of Namibia, is third on the log with 117 points and has no chance of overtaking Nare and Gebre.
Johannes, who missed the entire 2021 series, won the opening race in Gqeberha, but was second to Nare in Durban, Mbombela and Johannesburg. She missed the race in Tshwane because she was unable to get back from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on time.
The 2017 Grand Prix titleholder Kesa Molotsane (Murray & Roberts) retained her fourth place on the log with 105 points.
Molotsane’s consistent performances in all the races, finishing between fifth and eighth in the five races so far, with bonus points for outstanding times throughout the series, have proved the value of participating in all the races in the series.
Another consistent performer is Cacisile Sosibo (Boxer), who is in fifth spot with 92 points.
The 2018 titleholder, Glenrose Xaba, missed the first two races as she focused on trying to qualify for the Athletics World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.
She finished fourth in Mbombela, Tshwane and Johannesburg and would be higher on the log if she had run all five races. She is in eighth place with 81 points – two ahead of three-time Grand Prix winner Irvette van Zyl, who has missed two races because of injury.
Nare confirmed on Sunday that she will be running the final race in Cape Town later in October. “All this hard work would be in vain if I didn’t run the final race,” she said.
2022 Grand Prix calendar
Saturday, May 28 – Gqeberha
Sunday, June 26 – Durban
Saturday, July 16 – Mbombela
Saturday, August 6 – Tshwane
Sunday, October 2 – Johannesburg
Sunday, October 23 – Cape Town
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