Adrian Wildschutt

ADRIAN’S STORY
Adrian grew up in Ceres, South Africa, a small town about 105 miles from Cape Town. He followed his older brother Nadeel to Coastal Carolina University where the two brothers were coached by fellow South African, and former world record holder, Zola (Budd) Pieterse. Adrian transferred to Florida State University during the COVID-19 pandemic and spent his final two years of eligibility competing for the Seminoles. He finished up his Masters degree in the fall of 2022 in Tallahassee.

PRO STATS
Adrian joined HOKA NAZ Elite in the summer of 2022, just before competing in the World Athletics Championships over 5,000 meters and the Commonwealth Games at 10,000 meters–where he finished fifth. After a long stint back home in South Africa, Adrian moved to Flagstaff full time in the spring of 2023 and opened his season with a massive personal best (and South African national record) of 27:23.10 to win the 10,000 meters at the On Track Fest. He knocked out his Olympic A Standard for 5,000 meters in July at the KBC Night of Athletics in Belgium, running 13:02.46–another national record. Less than a week later he did it again, setting another national record–this time at 3,000 meters in Lucerne, Switzerland (7:39.25). He finished up his stellar track season with a 14th-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the World Athletics Championships.

Adrian’s fall of 2023 included wins at the Peace Run 10k in South Africa and the Cross Champs 8k in Austin, Texas. Then…he opened up his 2024 with an amazing win at the BU Terrier Classic in 12:56.76 over an incredibly deep field. His next race was another personal best–a 26:55.54 10,000 meters to finish sixth at The Ten in March. The mark qualified him for the 2024 Olympic Games. In April, he won a national title over 5,000 meters at the Athletics South Africa Senior Championships in 13:30.38. At his first ever Diamond League Meet, in Oslo on May 30, he ran yet another national record–finishing 13th in 12:56.67 over 5,000 meters. Three days later he did it again–running 7:36.77 to finish sixth over 3,000 meters in Stockholm. At the Olympic Games in Paris, he ran an incredible race to finish 10th place in 26:50.64. Not done, he came back at the end of August and ran 7:32.99 at the Silesia Diamond League–another national record.

To start his 2025 season, Adrian broke his 5,000m national record, running 12:55.02 at the BU Last Chance meet. A few weeks later, Adrian finished third in a competitive 10,000m field at The TEN in a time of 26:51.27.

NCAA STATS
Adrian won a Sun Belt Conference Championship at 5,000 meters while competing for Coastal Carolina. He then won three ACC titles after transferring to Florida State. He was the runner-up at the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championships (held in March of 2021) and sixth at the 2021 Championships. His senior track season saw him set personal bests indoors at 3,000 meters (7:52.38) and 5,000 meters (13:09.30)–the latter being a South African National Record. He was fourth at the NCAA Championships in the 5,000 and competed for South Africa in the 3,000 at the World Championships. Outdoors he ran a best of 27:38.54 at 10,000 meters and finished seventh in that event at the National Championships.