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Marius van Heerden (Getty)
Former South African 800 meter record holder Marius van heerden has died as a result of contracting the coronavirus.
He was 46 years old.
According to Netwerk24, Van Heerden fell ill with the virus a week ago and died in a Cape Town hospital on Friday.
He is survived by his wife, Petra, and two children, Tiaan and Hugo.
Van Heerden represented South Africa at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and it was in that year that he broke the national record for 800m, which had been held for 25 years at the time.
According to him Net In the report, Van Heerden set the new 800m record at Green Point Stadium in 1996 in front of 10,000 people with a time of 1:44:57.
He went to the Olympics later that year, but was eliminated in the playoffs before Hezekiel Sepeng broke his record by landing a silver medal for South Africa.
According to legendary former middle distance runner Johan Fourie, Van Heerden’s efforts that day at Green Point resulted in one of the best 800-meter runs he had ever seen.
Fourie described Van Heerden as “brave” that day and running “with guts.”
– Compiled by Sport24 staff
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