Danie Malan, SA athlete, sets a new world record in the 1 000m event in Munich

Date: 24 Jun 1973
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Danie Malan, SA athlete, sets a new world record in the 1 000m event in Munich

On 24 June 1973, South African athlete Danie Malan set a new world record in the middle distance 1000m event in Munich. Malan was raised in the Boland area of the Cape, where he took part in athletics from a young age. Malan began to take athletics seriously during his last two years of high school, and won the national under/17 title for the 400m race in 1967. After school, Malan obtained a Bachelor of Science (BSc) from Stellenbosch University, where he also excelled in athletics. However, Malan's most famous event was the 1000m race in Munich, in the stadium which had hosted the Olympics the year before. There he set the world record time for the event, at 2.16.0. South Africa's isolation from international competition from the 1970s hampered Malan's ability to compete internationally. However, Malan was invited to Zurich in 1976 nevertheless, where he also set the world record for the 1500m event.

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How we know this

01Mayer, R., (2009), "Middle-distance maestro Malan running a fruit and dairy farm", from Thetimes, [online] Available at: thetimes.co.za [Accessed 17 June 2009]
02Wallis, F. (2000) Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Danie Malan, SA athlete, sets a new world record in the 1 000m event in Munich. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012194

South African History Online (2011) 'Danie Malan, SA athlete, sets a new world record in the 1 000m event in Munich', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012194 (Accessed: 2 October 2026).

South African History Online, Danie Malan, SA athlete, sets a new world record in the 1 000m event in Munich [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012194, (accessed 2 October 2026).

"Danie Malan, SA athlete, sets a new world record in the 1 000m event in Munich." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012194. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "Danie Malan, SA athlete, sets a new world record in the 1 000m event in Munich." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012194.