MATSHELANE MAMABOLO
Cian Oldknow is about to live a dream she has been nursing since she was 10 years old. Set to turn 28 later in the year, the Hollywood Athletics Club starlet is one of three women who will represent South Africa in the marathon event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
It is a magnificent achievement for an athlete to be going to the ultimate sporting spectacle. But such are the rewards for “dreamers” who work hard at making those dreams a reality.
Oldknow still has vivid memories of the day her mind got set on Olympic participation.
“I was 10 years old, and I accompanied my mom when she went to fetch her attire for a world championships event she was going to,” Oldknow recalls during our interview at the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) House just after the initial members of Team SA were announced.
She qualified after running an impressive 2:25.08 at the Zurich Maraton de Sevilla in February, but the official announcement made things all the more real for Oldknow. A calm personality, she was not giddy like the others but rather had a twinkle in her eye that betrayed the delight she appeared to be trying so hard to conceal.
“I was 10 when my mom got national colours for aero-modelling world championships in Slovakia in 2010. She was team manager, and I went with her to collect her kit.
“It was in the beautiful South African colours, and I asked her, ‘How do I get this kit?’ She told me that I had to represent my country to get it. I remember thinking to myself, ‘I am good at running, that’s how I will get it’.
“It was just exciting, to see that this is something you work for, that if you liked something and excelled in it, you’d get rewarded. She showed me what an honour it is to represent South Africa.”
Oldknow has already represented South Africa on more than one occasion – in the half marathon at the World Championships and Cross-Country World Championships.
But the Olympics are on another level. And she will go to Paris as a South African marathon champion, a massive feat for one so new to the 42.195km distance. Her victory in the ASA Marathon Championships in Durban last month showed just what a talent she is – the fact that the competition was not so stiff notwithstanding.
“I had a really good race in Durban. The goal was to go and get the SA title and, yes, I know we did not have the depth we could have had but it was exciting to win.
“I wanted to run a sub 2:30, which is what I did with the 2:29.46. That has given me a lot of confidence for the marathons I am going to run later.”
The next marathon for her will be in Paris, where she will be wearing the green and gold alongside the phenomenal Gerda Steyn, as well as veteran Irvette Van Zyl, who is going for her fourth Olympics hoping to finally get to the finish line after three failed attempts.
“I am really excited because they are both huge role models for me. I have a lot to learn from them, and I believe we will be a great team. We will learn from each other, and we will support each other,” she said.
And what does she want to get out of the Olympics?
“My aim is to finish in the top 20, maybe even a top 15 and why not top 10? But I am not going to put myself under pressure. I will see how it goes on race day.”