Gillian Sanders (born 15 October 1981) is a South African triathlete. She grew up in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

, and took up triathlon in her youth under the influence of her father and older sister, who both competed in the sport. After competing internationally in age group and junior competition Sanders put her triathlon career on hold whilst studying law at Stellenbosch University, where she competed as a

1500m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

runner. She resumed triathlon competition after graduating, combining it with legal work. Sanders chose to focus on full-time competition at the end of 2011. She competed in the Women's event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. She competed in the women's triathlon at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Gillian 1981 births Living people South African female triathletes Olympic triathletes for South Africa Triathletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Johannesburg Triathletes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Stellenbosch University alumni Commonwealth Games medallists in triathlon Commonwealth Games silver medallists for South Africa Triathletes at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Triathletes at the 2020 Summer Olympics 20th-century South African women 21st-century South African women Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games