On a record-breaking day for South African road running, the Rainbow Nation delivered in spectacular fashion at the World Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia on Sunday.
The SA men's half-marathon squad shone with a historic performance, securing the country's first medal in 24 years at the global championships.
National champion Thabang Mosiako finished sixth, setting a personal best of 59:52, while Stephen Mokoka was 11th in 1:00:29 and Elroy Gelant set a career-best 1:00:56, with the trio securing bronze in the team competition.
Precious Mashele, the other member of the team in the 21.1km race, took 19th position in 1:01:13.
Up front, Sabastian Sawe won gold in 59:10, leading Kenya to a cleansweep of the podium as they wrapped up the team title.
In the women's half-marathon, Cacisile Sosibo took 10th position in a personal best 1:09:31..
She was well backed by SA champion Glenrose Xaba, who was 12th in 1:09:47, and Cian Oldknow, who also set a career best 1:10:08 to end 15th. They finished fourth in the team competition, with their combined time falling just 11 seconds short of a place on the podium.
Kesa Molotsane was 45th in 1:15:19, in a race won by Peres Jepchirchir (1:07:25) who led another Kenyan sweep.
Over shorter distances, being held for the first time at the World Road Running Championships, three national records were set.
Tayla Kavanagh grabbed 15th place in the women's 5km race in 15:50, clocking a new SA mark, with compatriot Kyla Jacobs (15:51) finishing just one second behind her in 16th.
In the men's 5km contest, Maxime Chaumeton ended 17th in a career best 13:36 and Nicholas Seoposengwe finished 38th in 14:19.
There were also SA records in both the mile (1.6km) races - the newest distance to be officially recognised by World Athletics for record purposes.
Ryan Mphahlele rocketed over the line in sixth position, stopping the clock at 3:57.35. He finished just 0.92 shy of a medal.
Carina Viljoen took 15th position in the women's mile in a new national mark of 4:39.01.
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