SA's elite runners have thrown their weight in support of Elroy Gelant, who will run the 42.2km marathon at the World Athletics Senior Championship in Tokyo on Monday morning.
Gelant will be SA's sole representative in the marathon contest at the world championships on Monday (1am SA time). It will be his first run at the event.
Comrades champions Gerda Steyn and Tete Dijana, and veteran marathoner Steven Mokoka, tip Gelant to be competitive.
Wishing Gelant the best at the Hollywoodbets 10km race press conference on Thursday, Dijana said: "He is the best marathon runner [in SA] and we wish him all the best. He is also my inspiration in another way because competing in the [standard] marathon is what we are looking forward to in the future."