Ian Syster (20 January 1976 – 25 December 2004) was a South African long-distance runner who specialized in the marathon. He was born in Prince Albert. He finished fourteenth at the 2001 World Championships and seventh at the 2003 World Championships. He also competed at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, but did not finish the race. At city marathons, Syster finished fifth in the 2002

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

, and won the

Beijing Marathon The Beijing Marathon () is an annual marathon race held around October in Beijing, People's Republic of China, since 1981. The race begins at Tiananmen Square and finishes in Celebration Square in Olympic Green. The full marathon is the onl ...

the following year. He had a personal best of 13:45.37 minutes in the 5000 metres, achieved in March 2002 in Bellville, and 28:24.61 minutes in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

, achieved in March 2002 in Port Elizabeth. In the longer races he had 1:02:44 hours in the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

and 2:07:06 hours in the marathon, both achieved in April 2002 in the

. Ian Syster and his two-month-old son drowned in December 2004 in

Keimoes Keimoes is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It lies on the Orange River and is about halfway between Upington and Kakamas. History It attained municipal status in 1949. The name of the town translates in both the Khoekhoe and ...

following a car accident.

Achievements

References

1976 births 2004 deaths People from the Central Karoo District Municipality South African male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for South Africa Deaths by drowning Road incident deaths in South Africa South African male marathon runners Deaths of competitors in athletics {{SouthAfrica-athletics-bio-stub