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Pietermaritzburg - Russian twins Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva will return to South Africa despite being robbed of their belongings during the Comrades Marathon on Sunday.
Olesya, who finished second behind her sibling in the 87km race, said she might not race in the country next year, because she hoped to start a family, but they would both return again.
"We will come back," Olesya said after the duo stretched their decade-long dominance of the world’s largest ultra-marathon.
"I have a boyfriend of six years, and if we don’t start a family next year, I will return to run here again.
"If we do start a family, I will miss a few years, but then I will come back."
According to reports, the Mr Price professional team had parked a vehicle along the route to assist the siblings during the race.
While team management were tied up with the athletes, kit bags were stolen from the vehicle, including personal items belonging to the twins and former men’s champion Jaroslaw Janicki of Poland.
The robbers then broke into the team’s hotel later in the day, according to Independent Online, and stole more of the athletes’ belongings.
The twins have become a fixture of South African ultra-distance races, having won the Comrades Marathon eight times between them in the last nine years.
They have also shared five victories in the 56km Two Oceans Marathon since 2004.
