Marissa Stander Van der Merwe

Marissa Stander Van der Merwe^[1] (born 30 August 1978 in Pretoria) is a retired South African professional road cyclist.^[2] She has awarded two South African championship titles each in both road race and time trial, and later represented her nation South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[3] Marissa also raced for the nation's MTN Cycling team before her official retirement in 2011.^[4]

FullnameMarissa Stander Van der Merve

Born (1978-08-30) 30 August 1978 (age 47)
Pretoria, South Africa

Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)

Weight57 kg (126 lb)

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Marissa Stander Van der Merve

Personal information
Full name	Marissa Stander Van der Merve
Born	(1978-08-30) 30 August 1978 (age 47) Pretoria, South Africa
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	57 kg (126 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional teams
2008–2010	MTN Cycling
2011	Lotto Honda Team
Major wins
South African Championships (ITT) (2008) South African Championships (Road) (2011)
Medal record Women's cycling Representing  South Africa All-Africa Games 2007 Algiers Road race

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Marissa made her official debut at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria, where she won the silver medal in the women's road race with a final time of 2:00:54, finishing behind her teammate Yolandi du Toit.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Marissa qualified for the South African squad in the women's road race by receiving one of the nation's two available berths from the UCI World Cup.^[5][6] She successfully completed a grueling race with a thirty-fourth-place effort in 3:33:17, surpassing Great Britain's Sharon Laws and the Netherlands' Mirjam Melchers by a few inches.^[7][8] On that same year, Marissa earned the women's time trial title in her first and only attempt at the South African Championships in East London.^[9]