SA’s Wildschutt produces performance of his life in an Olympic 10,000m race for the ages

Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda winner of the gold medal during the medal ceremony after competing in the Men's 10000m final at Stade de France on 3 August, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo: Andy Astfalck/BSR Agency/Getty Images)

By Craig Ray

4 Aug 2024

An explosive Olympic 10,000m Olympic final saw South Africa’s Adriaan Wildschutt produce a stunning performance.

Adriaan Wildschutt is not a name familiar to most South Africans, but it should be. He arguably produced the country’s best performance at the Paris Olympic Games in a 10,000m final of staggeringly high quality that will, probably, be lost in footnotes in years to come.

The 26-year-old Wildschutt, whose talent was spotted by former women’s 5,000m world record holder Zola Budd-Pieterse, crossed the line in the final in a stunning national record of 26:50.64, nearly 10 seconds faster than the Olympic record.

You know, the Olympic record held by Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, one of the greatest distance athletes of all time, set in Beijing in 2008.

Put another way, Wildschutt’s time and performance would have won every previous Olympic final in history. And he would’ve won them by at least 60m, when you calculate that they ran about 6m per second in the race. It was a supreme run by the little-known man from Ceres.

Wildschutt, who was inspired to run by older brother Nadeel, and whose only early ambition and goal was to set a clock to 20 minutes and try to cover more distance in that time each day, he has come a long way.

The reason South Africans are not celebrating another gold medal though, is that despite Wildschutt’s amazing effort, nine other athletes finished ahead of him in what must be the greatest single race in Olympic history.

In all, the top 13 athletes all broke Bekele’s Olympic record, with Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei confirming his greatness with a stunning run, crossing in 26:43.14 for the gold medal.

The Ugandan intends to move to marathon running now, and so ended his generational track career with a performance for the ages.

Adriaan Wildschutt of South Africa runs in the final of the men's 10,000m and sets a new South African record of 26:50.74 at Stade de France in Paris on 2 August 2024. (Photo: Roger Sedres / Gallo Images)

Every man for himself

Although Cheptegei’s 10,000m world record sits at 26:11.00, more than half a minute faster than he ran to win gold in Paris, the reality is that distance world records are usually set in very specific circumstances.

For world record attempts, pace makers are allowed and the race is usually one where it’s windless, cool and dry.

In an Olympic final there are no pace makers and the conditions are what they are. Runners from certain countries might work together, as the Ethiopian trio of Berihu Aregawi, Yomif Kejelcha and Selemon Barega did, but it’s a fight between individuals for glory.

There are two reasons the Paris 10,000m race was so fast – the new track is quick, and the main protagonists in the final unusually chose to punch and counterpunch almost from the start.

Often, a 10,000m final in a major championship can be cagey, with real racing only happening in the final 2,000m after 8km of jogging (by Olympian standards).

This time the Ethiopians took turns in driving a relentless pace for almost the entire duration of the 25-lap showdown in an effort to sap Cheptegei and remove his sting.

The Ugandan, though, stayed near the front, but never in front. Wildschutt too showed his class by running at the tip of the field as each Ethiopian surge resulted in another runner or two falling away.

Read more: Olympic Games Paris 2024

It was testament to the strength of the field that with 500m to go, when Cheptegei finally put the hammer down, there were still a dozen other runners still in with a chance of victory – Wildschutt among them.

It was only in the final 400m when Cheptegei’s searing pace finally shattered the Ethiopian challenge, that Wildschutt’s dream of a medal final ended.

Cheptegei Wildschutt Gold medal winner Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda following the 10,000m final at Stade de France on 3 August 2024. (Photo: Andy Astfalck / BSR Agency / Getty Images)

“I thought I ran really smart,” Wildschutt said after his race. “I knew I’d have to be really good in the last three, four laps. I moved up and got myself in an amazing position.

“I stuck with the pack and it was only in the last 300m that I started struggling. I’m very satisfied and very grateful for everything that I’ve been able to accomplish so far.

“My coach and I discussed things and the plan was to conserve as much energy as possible, knowing I’d have to run a fast last 1,000m.”

Scholarship

Growing up in Ceres, there wasn’t much money but Wildschutt and Nadeel were supremely talented and loved running.

Adriaan and Nadeel were spotted by former Olympian and South African great Budd-Pieterse, who helped in recruiting the brothers to Coastal Carolina University, where she was a coach.

Budd-Pieterse helped secure bursaries for both and the brothers stayed with Zola and her husband Mike in Myrtle Beach while they were studying.

Both the Wildschutt brothers completed their degrees in Carolina and Adriaan went on to earn an MBA from Florida State after transferring during Covid. Nadeel, who is considered by some to be even more talented than Adriaan, returned to South Africa and stays with the Budd-Pieterses in Stellenbosch.

Adriaan claimed second place at the 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in March 2021 while doing his master’s degree and was named 2023 South African Athlete of the Year.

He turned professional in the summer of 2022. “If I stayed in South Africa, I probably wouldn’t have turned pro. Because there is no way to make a really good living out of running,” he told the Sunday Times in 2022. DM

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Every man for himself

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