Athletes Women › Gillian Sanders
Gillian Sanders is one of the most experienced athletes in the Super League field as a three-time Olympian, and also has a career in law. Growing up in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Gillian was perhaps destined to be an athlete when you consider her sporting genes. Her father competed at elite level in triathlon and ultra-marathons while her mother was a sprinter. Her older sister, Rowena, also represented her country in triathlon and provided another inspiration.
Gillian competed in her first triathlon at the age of nine and rose through the Junior ranks to represent South Africa. However, after getting an offer to study law at Stellenbosch University, she put triathlon on hold to complete her degree. Gillian was racing and working when she moved to London, England, in 2008 to take a job at a law firm, but then chose to pause that career to focus on triathlon full time.
In 2011 she embarked on a first year as a pro, now not juggling a demanding job with racing at ITU level, and made enough progress to make the team to represent South Africa at the 2012 London Olympics where she placed 19th.
A remarkable career followed that has seen Gillian stay in and around the very top of the sport for a decade. She collected a silver medal at the Mixed Relay event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and has gone to represent her country at two further Olympic Games – in Rio and Tokyo.
Gillian has also won the African Championship three times, scoring an incredible hat-trick of wins in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Results posted shortly after the race may contain errors.
RR - Race Ready | TBD - To Be Determined | DNS - Did Not Start | DNF - Did Not Finish
Follow Gillian Sanders @
Championship 2021
London 5 Sep 2021