From disaster to the Olympics
Gillian Sanders has put bad luck and injuries behind her as she aims to be on the plane to Tokyo.
Though her lengthy career nearly ground to a sudden halt last season, after bad luck and injuries swamped her 2018 campaign, rejuvenated triathlete Gillian Sanders is confident she can continue to put up a fight on the international circuit as she sets her sights on next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
The nation’s most consistent performer in the elite women’s division of the Triathlon World Series and World Cup competitions in recent years, Sanders was dealt a double blow last season when she crashed twice on her bike.
Struggling to regain her form, she admitted she had considered calling it quits, but going out on such a disappointing note was too bitter a pill to swallow.
After launching a comeback last week at the age of 37, when she finished fifth at the Discovery World Cup race in Cape Town, Sanders was visibly delighted with her performance, proving she still had the ability to mix it with the big guns.
“It’s a great start to the season, so I’m happy. I’m back where I should be,” she said after the race.
“After last year I think I deserved a bit of luck.”
Born in Pietermaritzburg, Sanders displayed her talent from a young age and she represented South Africa on multiple occasions as a teenager in age group races at the World Triathlon Championships.
As smart as she is fast, she went on to graduate with a law degree from Stellenbosch University, and after working for a local firm for a couple of years, she took a job opportunity to work in London.
Ultimately putting her law career on hold, however, Sanders opted to shift her focus and became a full-time triathlete, though she stayed in London to train under the guidance of James Beckinsale.
And while compatriots Henri Schoeman and Richard Murray have stolen the headlines in recent years by securing multiple medals at major international championships, Sanders has established her place as South Africa’s top female triathlete.
A six-time African champion, she represented the country at the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016, and she formed part of the mixed relay team that earned the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the likes of 29-year-old Simone Ackermann, a former New Zealander now competing for her country of birth, and 18-year-old Amber Schlebusch, who won gold at the Youth Olympics last year, are breathing down her neck.
Sanders, however, proved last week she too would be in the running once again for a spot in the national team.
In the build-up to the 2019 season, Sanders joined Dutch star Rachel Klamer and the rest of the Netherlands team on a training camp in Namibia, and aside from her impressive result at the seasonopener in Cape Town, she was pleased to be training again at full strength.
“After off-season training, you go into the first race and you don’t really know what shape you’re in, so there is always an element of doubt,” she said.
“But I’ve been training with Rachel in Windhoek and my sessions were pretty similar to hers, so that’s also a good confidence boost to see where I am.”
Ranked 45th in the world, Sanders had some work to do to earn a qualifying spot at the Tokyo Olympics, but she was relieved to breathe new life into her career with an impressive effort in the Mother City, and she was looking forward to retaining her place among the international elite.
“Last year was an absolute disaster,” she said.
“But if this is the way this year is going to start, then bring it on.”