Wostmann given the all-clear after ‘niggle’

Wesley Bo on

Caroline Wostmann’s camp breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday after the ultra-distance runner faced an injury scare at the weekend, just seven weeks ahead of her “up” run title defence at the Comrades Marathon.

Wostmann (right), who won the Two Oceans in Cape Town in 2015 and 2016, dropped out of the annual 56km race on Saturday after feeling pain in her hamstring.

“I’ve been struggling a bit with a tight hamstring all week, and unfortunately about 10km in I felt it pull,” she said after the race.

“I thought it was best to be safe, pull out of the race and try and treat it before Comrades.”

Her coach Lindsey Parry confirmed yesterday it was not a hamstring injury but a niggle in her hip which had tightened the muscle, and he was confident Wostmann would prepare sufficiently for the 87km Comrades race in June.

After winning the 2015 “up” run, a cramping Wostmann was chased by Charne Bosman during last year’s “down” run in KwaZulu-Natal, and she had entered the Two Oceans race as part of her build-up to the longer event between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

“The injury isn’t serious ... and I’m confident it won’t affect training this week, which was a planned easy week anyway,” Parry said.

Meanwhile, Lungile Gongqa made amends for his failure to finish last year’s Rio Olympic marathon, breaking a four-year South African drought in the men’s race at Two Oceans.

Gongqa made a break in the latter stages to win the 56km battle in 3:09:43, with Warinyane Lebopo of Lesotho holding on for second place in 3:10:21.

Maryna Damantsevich of Belarus delivered a superb gunto-tape victory on debut in the women’s contest, crossing the line more than 10 minutes clear of Durbanite Jenna Challenor, who started conservatively and worked her way through the field to finish second in her maiden ultra-marathon in 3:47:32.