Biography
Tete Dijana (born in 1988) is a South African athlete and ultramarathon runner. He won the 95th edition of the Comrades Marathon on his second attempt in 2022.
The runner made his first attempt in 2019, when for a different running club but did not reach the top 10. He currently runs for Nedbank Running Club.
Tete Dijana finished first at 5:30:38, winning a gold medal and R260 000 prize money. He won the Comrades Marathon for the second consecutive year. He finished with a record-breaking time of 5:13:58.
Early Life
| Tete Dijana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Full Name: | Tete Morena Dijana |
| Born: | 1988 (age 34-35 years old) |
| Origin: | Mafikeng, North West |
| Nationality: | South African |
| Occupation: | Athlete, security guard |
| Years active: | Athlete (2019-date) Security guard (2014-date) |
| Children: | 2 |
| Affiliation: | Nedbank Running Club |
Tete Morena Dijana was born in 1988. He hails from Mafikeng in the North West, South Africa.
Career
The first time Tete made it to Comrades Marathon in 2019, he finished in 50th place. He earned a silver medal with a time of 6:25:03.
In 2022, he joined the Nedbank Running Club. He entered the 2022 Nedbank Breaking Barriers 50 km and finished second. Tete finished ahead of Edward Mothibi, who won the 2019 Comrades Marathon.
Edward and Tete ran together as the race leaders during part of the second half of the 2022 Comrades Marathon. Tete took the lead less than 10 km to the end and won the race. Edward finished in second place over three minutes behind Tete.
Dijana won the 2023 Comrades Marathon (down run). Before entering running competitions, he worked as a security guard since 2014. He says that he does not plan to quit his job. Instead, he will have to balance his work and the talent that God gave him.
Work
Tete Dijana scored an R50,000 cash bonus, R50,000 towards future training, and a month’s paid leave to rest.
Mi7 National Group announced that the reward was to recognize his outstanding finish in the world’s largest and oldest ultra-marathon.
Dijana started working as a guard there in 2020 and is stationed at North-West University.
World Record
Tete Dijana set new men’s 50km world records at the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality after a morning of the record-breaking performance.
The Nedbank Running Club (NRC) athlete set new men’s 50km world records, obliterating it. Emane Seifu Hayile also set new women’s 50km world record on the same day.
Dijana finished the 2023 Comrades Marathon at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban on Sunday, winning with a finishing time of 5:13:58. He beat David Gatebe’s 2016 record of 5:18:19. Dutch runner Piet Wiersma, who finished in 5:14:01, closely followed him.
Personal Life
Tete Dijana is a proud father of two children – a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old. He plans to use part of the money to build a house. He further says he would be seeking the help of an adviser on managing the money.
