Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 55, February 2014 | Page 13

Feature

oving
the Tri Life

2012 was a great year for
Gillian Sanders. A mere 15 months
after turning professional, she was
crowned the 2012 African Triathlon
Champion and South African National
Champion, recorded her best finish
in an ITU World Cup event, finishing
fourth in Ishigaki, Japan, and then
she topped all of that by representing
South Africa at the London 2012
Olympics. It was almost inevitable
that 2013 would be a bit of a
downer… – BY SEAN FALCONER

Ask Gill about about 2013 and she answers quite
frankly: “I’m not one for excuses, but I did not
realise how much 2012 and the lead-up to the
Olympics took out of me. There were still some
good results – African Champ, European Cup
podium, top 10 in Yokohama – however, I expected
so much more of myself,” says Gill. “I do take great
heart, or maybe relief, in scrolling through the
London 2012 results and noticing that it was not
just me who failed to make an impact on the circuit
last year. I think people underestimate how much
an Olympic year takes out of you and the difficulty
in coming back the following year from such a high.
However, it has made me hungry again. While I felt
deflated at the end of last season, I feel ‘ubermotivated’ now! I can’t wait for the 2014 season
and to express my full potential.”

NATURAL ATHLETE
Gill (32) grew up in Pietemaritzburg and soon
proved a gifted runner and swimmer, in keeping
with the family trend. Her father, Kenneth Curr,
had run the marathon for SA in the SA Games
in the 1970s, then gone on to ultra-marathons
and competed at numerous World Triathlon
Championships, while her mother Margaret earned

pro triathlete.

SA colours for the 100m, 200m and 400m.
Older sister Rowena was also a talented
triathlete, so it was no surprise that Gill also got
into multi-sport at the tender age of nine, and
when she was just 13, she finished fifth in the
13-15 age group at the 1995 World Tri Champs
in Mexico, going on to represent her country
many more times.
After school, Gill moved to Stellenbosch
University for five years to study law, and while
there she met her future husband, Mark, a
cricketer at the time and also originally from
KZN. Having completed her studies, she moved
back to Pietermaritzburg and subsequently
became the youngest female lawyer to appear
in the High Court in South Africa. Then the
opportunity arose to go work in London, and
it was here that Gill found herself racing on
the elite ITU circuit. However, balancing a
demanding legal career with tri training and
competition was proving too much, so at the
end of 2010 she decided to put her legal career
on hold in order to turn pro.

OLYMPIC HIGHLIGHT
The move paid off handsomely when Gill
was selected to represent SA in London, and
she says the Olympics have definitely been
the highlight of her career thus far.
“I finished 19th out of 55 girls, and I
was really pleased with that, as I had
only been racing for 18 months as
a full-time athlete.” Looking ahead,
she says the long-term goal is
getting to the Rio 2016 Games, but
for now she is building up to the
Commonwealth Games in August
while also focusing on getting more
great results on the ITU circuit.
“I’ll be 34 come the next Olympics, so
I’ll probably have to think of packing