Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Biggest honour of her life, says Comrades winner

10 June 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Gerda Steyn Twitter

Winning the Comrades ultra-marathon is the greatest honour of her life and still feels unreal, said Gerda Steyn a day after winning the race in a record time.

The former Kovsie student had an incredible race on Sunday, completing the 86,83 km’s in a time of 05:58:54, which is a new record for women in the up run. It is more than 10 minutes faster than the previous record of 06:09:23 set in 2006.

It was also the fourth fastest Comrades time ever by a female in the 94-year history of the race.

Greatest honour of my life

“Being the Comrades winner is the greatest honour of my life. Thank you to an entire nation for carrying me to the line. It feels like a dream,” Steyn said.

The 29-year-old Steyn became the first woman in 30 years to win both the Comrades and Two Oceans in the same year. She also won the Two Oceans in 2018 and came second in the Comrades last year.

Steyn, who studied Quantity Surveying and Construction Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) between 2009 and 2012, said the record time was discussed beforehand.

I went for it

“We felt it was possible, but it wasn’t my main goal right from the start of the race. At the halfway mark, I saw it was possible and I went for it.”

According to Steyn, the media attention since her win is quite intense. “But I don’t complain. It is such an honour, so I do it with a smile.”

At the Two Oceans ultra-marathon in April, she missed out on the 30-year record time by just 53 seconds.

Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, said Steyn was a proud ambassador of the university. “It is always important for me to see how our former students perform. I would like to congratulate her. Well done. She is carrying the Kovsie name with pride,” Prof Petersen said.

News Archive

Double achievement for Prof. Paul Grobler

2012-04-25

Prof. Paul Grobler
Photo: Supplied
25 April 2012

Early this year, two journal editions appearing almost simultaneously in Europe featured cover photographs based on papers by Prof. Paul Grobler of the Department of Genetics and his collaborators.

These papers stem from collaborations with Prof. Gunther Hartl at the University of Kiel (Germany) and Dr Frank Zachos from the Natural History Museum in Vienna (Austria). Both papers cover aspects of the genetics of southern African antelope species.

The first paper appeared in the Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research” (from the Wiley-Blackwell group). This was titled “Genetic structure of the common impala (Aepyceros melampus melampus) in South Africa: phylogeography and implications for conservation”.

In this paper, the team analysed impala from various localities in South Africa to determine the relationship between distribution and genetic structure. The results suggest a clear relationship between genetic characteristics and habitat features that regulate gene flow.

The second appeared in the journal Mammalian Biology (from the Elsevier group), with the title “Genetic analysis of southern African gemsbok (Oryx gazella), reveals high variability, distinct lineages and strong divergence from the East African Oryx beisa”.

Here, the researchers looked at various aspects of the genetics and classification of gemsbok. Among the notable findings is that gemsbok populations on the game farms studied are less inbred than previously predicted.

Proffs. Grobler and Hartl initiated these projects on gemsbok and impala, with sub-sections of the research later completed as M.Sc. projects by students from both South Africa and Germany.

Prof. Grobler has been involved with aspects of the population genetics of various mammal species since the early 1990s, and continued with this line of research after joining the UFS in 2006. Current projects in this field include work on wildebeest, vervet monkeys and white rhinoceroses.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept