COMRADES RUNNER DIES AFTER COLLAPSING DURING RACE
After much excitement because of the return of the Comrades Marathon, the race has been marred by the death of an athlete.
The 2022 race was the first one to take place after the pandemic forced a hiatus of two years.
Mzamo Mthembu of the Hollywoodbets Athletics Club died in a hospital on Sunday. He competed in this year’s race but collapsed before finishing.
According to reports he started having complications and collapsed in Pinetown.
He was taken to a Westville hospital.
News24 reports that in a Facebook post, the Hollywoodbets Athletics Club confirmed that Mthembu started having complications along the route.
“He was doing (the) Comrades Marathon yesterday, (from) where he had complications along the route and collapsed in Pinetown. (He) was taken to Westville Hospital where he sadly passed away,” the statement read.
The race director is still awaiting news about Mtehmbu’s situation as the race doctor still had to complete their rounds.
“Our race doctor, as is our normal practice, goes to the various hospitals the day after the race and visits the athletes that were admitted. We don’t know what his condition was, so the moment the race doctor has that, he will advise me.”
The 95th Comrades Marathon was won by South African Tete Dijana. The second and third places were also dominated by South Africans.
Image credit: Comrades Marathon