Irvette van Blerk

Irvette van Zyl

Irvette van Zyl (van Blerk) during 2012 Olympic Games
Personal information
Born	(1987-07-05) July 5, 1987 (age 29)
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Weight	54 kg (119 lb)
Sport
Country	South Africa
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Marathon

Irvette van Zyl (born Irvette van Blerk on 5 July 1987) is a South African long-distance runner. She competed in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics but did not finish the race. She has twice participated in the London Marathon and set her personal best of 2:31:26 hours there in 2013.

She began running from a young age, winning the Zevenheuvelenloop at age fifteen and running as a junior for South Africa three times at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She represented her country at the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. In 2012 she married South African hurdler L. J. van Zyl.

Born in Sandton, South Africa, her first major win came at the Zevenheuvelenloop in 2002, where at the age of fifteen she won the high-profile 15K race while on holiday in the Netherlands. In 2003 she won the national junior title over 1500 metres and set a personal best of 4:17.49 minutes. She competed three times in the junior race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, coming 18th in 2002, 16th in 2003, and 26th in 2005.

She was runner-up at 10K runs in Durban and Port Elizabeth in 2003. In 2004 she ran a 3000 metres best of 9:29.78 minutes to win at the Dutch Golden Spike meeting. She also set a 10,000 metres best of 34:19.54 minutes, placing second at the national championships. On the roads that year she again set new bests, winning the Cape Town 10K (33:12 min) and the Bedfordview half marathon (75:49 min). She competed sparingly from 2005 to 2007, during which time she studied at the University of Johannesburg. She finally improved on her 2004 half marathon best with a run of 75:41 hours in Bloemfontein in 2008. She marked her return to the top level of athletics with a 10,000 m win at the 2009 South African championships.