South Africa’s Tete Dijana Storms to Victory in the 2022 Edition of Comrades Marathon

South Africa’s Tete Dijana Storms to Victory in the 2022 Edition of Comrades Marathon

Byron Pillay
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:10 PM
  • Tete Dijana won the Comrades Marathon from Pietermaritzburg to Durban ahead of his teammate
  • Former champion Bongamusa Mthembu took fourth place and broke the Nedbank Running Club's dominance
  • Nedbank Running Club had five athletes in the top 10 of the Comrades Marathon, including the top three

South Africa’s Tete Dijana has won the 2022 edition of the Comrades Marathon.

The Nedbank runner stormed to victory, beating his teammate and defending champion, Edward Mothibi.

South Africa, Tete Dijana, Victory, 2022 Edition, Comrades Marathon, Sport, World, Athlete, Durban Pietermartitzburg
South Africa’s Tete Dijana won the 2022 edition of the Comrades Marathon. Image: @thabang_lepule/ @mothibithabo
Source: Twitter

The duo were neck and neck with not too long to go before Dijana took control of the race and never looked back. Mothibi, despite losing to his teammate, was incredibly proud of Dijana's performance.

Dijana, a security guard from the North West, finished the race in 5:30:38 while Mothibi finished in 5:33:46.

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Dan Moselakwe, also from the Nedbank Running Club, finished third.

Former champion Bongamusa Mthembu took fourth place in the race while Johannes Maketgla finished in fifth. The sixth place went to Nkosikhona Mhlakwana with Joseph Manyedi finishing in seventh.

The first non-South African athlete, Solly Manduwa from Malawi, took eighth place while Charles Tijiane finished ninth. The last gold medal went to Lutendo Mapoto.

Nedbank Running Club’s dominance in the event was highlighted by the fact that five of the top ten all belonged to the club.

The 2022 edition of the Comrade is being run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban and saw a return of the event after a Covid-19-induced break.

High praise for Mahikeng security guard Tete Morena Dijana after Men's 2022 Comrades Marathon victory

Tete Morena Dijana is the toast of South Africa and the marathon-racing world today.

The Mahikeng-born security guard ran into the history books by winning the men's 2022 Comrades Marathon in a time 05:30:38. The Pro Runner reported that Dijana prepared for the race by sometimes only sleeping two hours, which in the end was worth it.

"It means a lot. I have been through a lot. I also went to a training camp having taken three months of unpaid leave. It was worth it," Dijana said.

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Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
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