Stephen Mokoka shattered his 42km personal best on Sunday, taking second place at the Shanghai Marathon in China.
The versatile distance runner, aiming for his third straight win in Shanghai, took second place in 2:07:40 and became the fifth South African to dip under the 2:08:00 barrier.
He improved his five year-old career best by 53 seconds and missed Gert Thys’ national record by 67 seconds.
Kenyan athlete Paul Kipchumba won the race in 2:07:14, breaking the course record of 2:08:43 set by Mokoka last year.
“The conditions were good and it’s my best time, so I’m happy with my performance,” Mokoka said.
Mokoka became the fourth South African man, after Lungile Gqonqa (2:11:59), Michael Mazibuko (2:12:29) and Sibusiso Nzima (2:15:38) to qualify for the marathon at next year’s Rio Olympics, though he confirmed he intended to run the 10 000m on the track at the Games.
