Sydney Maree OIS (born September 9, 1956) is a former middle distance runner who competed at the international level in the 1980s. He was the first South African to run officially under 3:30 in the 1500m. He was born in

Cullinan Cullinan may refer to: * Cullinan (surname), a surname * Rolls-Royce Cullinan, an ultra-luxury SUV produced by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars *Cullinan, Gauteng, a small town in South Africa *Cullinan Diamond The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem- ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, but later became a U.S. citizen, running for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in various competitions.

Running career

Maree attended

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

, where he was eight-time NCAA All American, including once in cross country, thrice indoors, and four times outdoors; two-time NCAA champion in the 1500 meters (1980, 1981),

distance medley relay The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. With its inclusion in the IAAF World Relays program, the IAAF announced on May 1, 2015 that the event would be an official world record event ...

(1980, 1981) and once in the 5000 meters (1979). He also won the inaugural

Fifth Avenue Mile The Fifth Avenue Mile is an annual road race on Fifth Avenue in New York City, United States. The race begins at 80th Street and heads twenty blocks south to 60th Street. First held on September 26, 1981, the race is currently organized by ...

in 1981 with 3:47.52, which was the course record for 43 years until Josh Kerr ran 3:44.3 in 2024. Maree's greatest success came in August 1983 when he broke

Steve Ovett Stephen Michael James Ovett, (; born 9 October 1955) is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Ovett set five world records for 1500 metre ...

's world record over

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run 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 Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometer ...

at a meet in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, clocking 3:31.24 min. Two years later, Maree set a new US record of 3:29.77 min; however, this was not a world record as a few weeks before

Saïd Aouita Saïd Aouita (; born November 2, 1959) is a former Moroccan track and field athlete. He is the only athlete in history to have won a medal in each of the 800 meters and 5000 meters at the Olympic games. He won the 5000 meters at the 1984 Summer Oly ...

had run 3:29.46. Maree was an excellent 5000-m runner, as well. In

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

in 1985, he set a US record at 13:01.15 min. finishing just behind Aouita who set a world record. Maree's personal bests include the aforementioned 3:29.77 for the 1500 meters (1985, the American Record for 20 years), 3:48.83 for the mile (1981), 4:54.20 in the 2000 meters (1985, then a US record), 7:33.37 for 3000 meters (1984, also then an American record), and the previously mentioned American record of 13:01.15 in the 5000 meters. He was USA's runner in the 5000 meters at the 1987

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

(11th place) and the 1988

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(where he finished in fifth place in the final).

Personal life

Maree is married with five children. In 1995 he moved back to South Africa, later forming the asset management group Franklin Zamani, in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, of which he became the CEO.

References

External links

Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maree, Sydney 1956 births Living people People from the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality South African emigrants to the United States South African male middle-distance runners South African male long-distance runners American male middle-distance runners American male long-distance runners Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Villanova Wildcats men's track and field athletes World record setters in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga Athletes from Gauteng United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century South African sportsmen