Athlete and son die in crash

2004-12-25 20:20

George Koertzen

Keimoes - Road-runner Ian Syster, 28, was killed in the early hours of Christmas morning when he lost control of his BMW and it ploughed into the Orange River outside Keimoes in the Northern Cape, about 100km from Upington.

His two month old son, Tyrede, drowned in the car with him, friends and colleagues confirmed on Saturday.

"Ian was on the way to Cape Town to spend some time with his family after we had an argument on Christmas Eve. We (had) decided to spend some time apart and he was going to discuss matters with his family," said his distraught girlfriend, Maritza Tietre.

"It would seem that he lost control and crashed through the safety barriers into the river," she explained.

Syster's devastated former coach Gert Thys, a national marathon record holder, said the runner's family in Prince Albert had recently asked him to talk to Ian to get his career back on track.

"Things were not well between Ian and his girlfriend, he was young and his life was not heading in the right direction," he said.

"I always say to the youngsters that they should always remember where they come from. We have lost a great talent, he could have been the greatest athlete this country had known," he lamented, adding that he would be visiting Syster's family on Sunday.

Syster won the last national marathon championships in Durban (2001) as an unannounced individual. He went on to make his presence felt at international level, with his selection to the national team, a fifth-place finish in the 2002 London Marathon, and a ninth-place in the 2003 race, one place behind Hendrik Ramaala.

He won the Beijing Marathon in 2002, but failed to finish it in 2003 and was also unable to make it to the finish line at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

"He was awarded an international contract with our company and both myself and my American counterpart believed that he would be the next person to break the 2:04 marathon mark, he was that good," said Nike SA product sponsorship manager, Rowyn James, shocked to hear of his death.

Syster is the second elite athlete to die in tragic circumstances this year. Olympic marathon gold medallist Josia Thugwane's training partner, Josia Bhembe, was killed earlier this year in what was believed to be a suicide after a family dispute.

- SAPA