Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 55, February 2014 | Page 12

Feature

The All-Rounder

Elroy in the men’s
3000m final at the
2012 IAAF World
Indoor Champs.

Having proven his versatility by wracking up numerous wins, podiums and titles
in track, road and cross country in South Africa, Elroy Gelant is planning an
all-out assault on the world stage in 2014. – BY LAUREN VAN DER VYVER

W

ith a solid win in the Dis-Chem Half
Marathon in Johannesburg in January, to retain the
title he won here in 2012, Elroy Gelant has started
the year in the form he hopes will allow him to
compete with the best at the World Half Marathon
Champs in Copenhagen, on 29 March. Having
finished third at the SA Half Marathon Champs last
September, the Potchefstroom-based star is expected
to be part of a strong SA team in Denmark alongside
Stephen Mokoka, Lusapho April and Gladwin Mzazi,
and they’ll be aiming to repeat the team gold medal
that Hendrick Ramaala, Abner Chipu and Mluleki
Nobanda won for SA in 1999 in Palermo, Italy.

The win at Dis-Chem is actually just the latest in a
string of great results for Elroy over the past year. He
recorded a unique ‘double’ at the SA Cross Country
Champs in Potch by winning both the 12km and
4km events, and made it to the final of the 5000m
at the IAAF World Champs in Moscow, finishing 12th.
He also narrowly missed Shadrack Hoff’s 18-yearold national 5000m record of 13:14.16, clocking
13:15.87, so once the World Half Champs are out of
the way, his focus will shift back to the track ahead
of the Commonwealth Games in Scotland in late July,
and in the lead-up to Copenhagen he also aims to do
well at the World Indoor Champs from 7 to 9 March
in Sopot, Poland.

Currently holding down a full-time position at North
West University as a Human Resources Assistant
in the Department of Human Capital and Client
Services, Elroy still manages an intense training
programme while representing the Traumeel NWUPukke team in all three running disciplines. “It’s
not easy! I wake up at 4:30am every day to train
and get home by 6am to shower before work. After
hours, I train again before 5pm, and it’s tiring, but
what keeps me motivated are the goals I continually
set myself.” Added to work and training, Elroy also
has to fit in hitting the books, as he’s currently
registe