Marissa Stander Van der Merwe (born 30 August 1978 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

) is a retired South African professional road cyclist. She has awarded two South African championship titles each in both road race and time trial, and later represented her nation

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Marissa also raced for the nation's team before her official retirement in 2011. Marissa made her official debut at the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games took place between 11 and 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers is the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were held there. Besides Algeria, only Nige ...

Algiers, Algeria Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

, where she won the silver medal in the women's road race with a final time of 2:00:54, finishing behind her teammate Yolandi du Toit. At the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Marissa qualified for the South African squad in the women's road race by receiving one of the nation's two available berths from the UCI World Cup. She successfully completed a grueling race with a thirty-fourth-place effort in 3:33:17, surpassing Great Britain's

Sharon Laws Sharon Laws (7 July 1974 – 16 December 2017) was a British professional cyclist and environmental consultant. Early life Laws was born in Nairobi, Kenya, grew up in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire and lived in Uganda, South Africa ...

and the Netherlands'

Mirjam Melchers Maria Wilhelmina Johanna "Mirjam" Melchers-Van Poppel (born 26 September 1975 in Arnhem, Gelderland) is a female former racing cyclist from the Netherlands, married to former sprinter Jean-Paul van Poppel. She was one of the leading cyclists in ...

by a few inches. On that same year, Marissa earned the women's time trial title in her first and only attempt at the South African Championships in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

Career highlights

;2006 : 2nd South African Championships (Road),

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

(RSA) ;2007 : 2nd

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

(ALG) : 2nd South African Championships (Road), South Africa : 3rd South African Championships (ITT), South Africa ;2008 : 1st MaillotSudáfrica

South African Championships (ITT),

(RSA) : 34th

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

(Road),

(CHN) ;2009 : 3rd South African Championships (ITT),

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1 ...

(RSA) ;2011 : 1st MaillotSudáfrica

South African Championships (Road),

(RSA)

References

External links

NBC Olympics Profile
* * www.procyclingstats.com/rider/Marissa_Stander * www.cyclingarchives.com/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=76203 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stander Van der Merwe, Marissa 1978 births Living people Afrikaner people South African female cyclists Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for South Africa Sportspeople from Pretoria African Games silver medalists for South Africa African Games medalists in cycling Competitors at the 2007 All-Africa Games 21st-century South African women