September 11, 2008
38-year old Constantina Tomescu-Dita, who took the Olympic title in the 2008 Beijing Games announced, that she will run the Bank of America Chicago marathon on October, 12th. It will be her 5th appearance in the Chicago marathon and she might well repeat her victory in 2004 (in 2005 and 2006 she took 2nd place).
However, she will have strong opponents and it remains to be seen if she has recovered from the extraordinary run in Beijing.
the elite field of the Chicago marathon 2008 Womens race includes:
Bezunesh Bekele ETH 2:23:09
Alevtina Biktimirova RUS 2:25:12
Colleen De Reuck USA 2:26:35
Zoila Gomez USA 2:33:53
Lidiya Grigoryeva RUS 2:25:10
Kate O’Neill USA 2:36:15
Adriana Pirtea ROU 2:28:52
Kiyoko Shimahara JPN 2:26:14
Worknesh Tola ETH 2:25:37
Constantina Tomescu-Dita ROU 2:21:30
September 11, 2008
US-Girl Kara Goucher, who took 9th place in the 5.000m (15:49.39) and 10th place at the 10.000m (30:55.16/PB) in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will give her marathon debut in the 2008 ING New York City Marathon. Goucher’s biggest success so far was the bronze medal in the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. Now the 30-year old will turn to the marathon and on November 2nd 2008 she will race her first 42,195km in the city where she was born. Goucher is in good company as already several other marathon stars made their debut in New York, for example Grete Waitz (1978), Goucher’s coach Alberto Salazar (1980), Liz McColgan (1991), Deena Kastor (2001), Marla Runyan (2002), Meb Keflezighi (2002), and Dathan Ritzenhein (2006).
September 6, 2008
On Saturday, 6th of September 2008 the Jungfrau marathon was run in Interlaken (SUI) in ideal conditions. During the 42,195km the participants have to climb 1829 altitude. The men’s race was won by Hermann Achmüller (ITA), who prepared only in the plain and did not do any specific mountain-running training. Mountain-running specialist Martin Cox took 2nd place and Swiss halfmarathon champion Patrick Wieser came in 3rd.
In the womens’ race Hungarian Simona Staicu won as expected despite having stomach problems with Romanian Jeanna Malkova and Swiss Elena Kaledina following on the minor places of the podium.
Lead results were as follows:
marathon men:
1. Achmüller Hermann 1971 ITA 3:03.18,6
2. Cox Martin 1969 ITA 3:05.32,1
3. Wieser Patrick 1979 SUI 3:08.07,9
4. Short Timothy 1981 GB 3:08.37,9
5. Frick Gerd 1974 ITA 3:11.15,1
6. Murzine Grigory 1970 RUS 3:11.32,4
7. Tanui Mike 1976 KEN 3:12.24,3
8. Raittila Anssi 1976 FIN 3:12.42,2
9. Kaledine Serguej 1968 FRA 3:17.16,4
10. Jenzer Urs 1970 SUI 3:18.28,5
marathon women:
1. Staicu Simona 1971 HUN-Hungary 3:39.05,5
2. Malkova Jeanna 1968 ROM 3:41.15,7
3. Kaledina Elena 1966 SUI 3:43.21,1
4. Reiber Carolina 1973 SUI 3:44.31,6
5. Guggisberg-Oberli Petra 1974 SUI 3:50.28,4
6. Amiet Tanja 1976 SUI 3:51.55,0
7. Huser Andrea 1973 SUI 3:52.59,4
8. Lilge-Leutner Carina 1960 AUT 3:53.28,7
9. Jaun Karin 1969 SUI 3:55.01,0
10. Kambara Yuri 1976 JAP 3:56.35,0
full results of the race services.datasport.com
September 6, 2008
Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru, the winner of the 2008 Olympic marathon in Beijing is going after the world record in the Berlin marathon in 2009. The 21-year old wants to break the current world record of Haile Gebrselassie (2:04:26 h, Berlin 2007): “I want the world record at next year’s Berlin marathon and I want to defend my Olympic title” he stated in an interview.
August 28, 2008
Italian marathon runner and Olympic Champion 2004, Stefano Baldini, announced that he will not run in big Championship-marathons any more after not being able to defend his Olympic title in this years Olympic marathon and taking “only” 12th place in the Beijing Olympic marathon.
Baldini’s accomplishments also include 2 European Marathon titles (1998 and 2006), 2 bronce medals in World Championships (2001 and 2003) and the Italian Marathon record, which he set in London two years ago with a time of 2:07:22h.
The Italian still wants to compete in smaller competitions, especially in Italy but is looking forward to spend more time with his family and to avoid the stress of major championships.
August 13, 2008
The final entry lists of the Olympic marathons are now available.
Women
ALG: Souad Aït Salem
AUS: Benita Johnson, Kate Smyth, Lisa Jane Weightman
AUT: Eva-Maria Gradwohl
BIH: Lucia Kimani
BOL: Sonia Calizaya
BRA: Marily dos Santos
BRN: Nadia Ejjafini
CHN: Rong Chen, Shujing Zhang, Chunxiu Zhou, Xiaolin Zhu
COL: Bertha Sánchez
CRC: Gabriela Traña
ECU: Sandra Ruales
ERI: Nebiat Habtemariam
ESP: Alessandra Aguilar, Yesenia Centeno, Maria José Pueyo
ETH: Berhane Adere, Dire Tune, Gete Wami
FRA: Christelle Daunay
GBR: Paula Radcliffe, Mara Yamauchi, Liz Yelling
GER: Susanne Hahn, Melanie Kraus, [Irina Mikitenko]
GRE: Eléni Dónta
HUN: Beáta Rakonczai, Petra Teveli
IRL: Pauline Curley
ITA: Bruna Genovese, Anna Incerti, Vincenza Sicari
JPN: Yurika Nakamura, [Mizuki Noguchi], Reiko Tosa
KEN: Catherine Ndereba, Martha Komu, Selina Kosgei
KGZ: Yuliya Arzipova
KOR: Eun-hee Chae, Eun-jung Lee, Sun-young Lee
LAT: Jelena Prokopcuka
LES: Mamorallo Tjoka
LTU: Zivilé Balciünaité, Rasa Drazdauskaité
MAR: Asmae Leghzaoui
MDA: Valentina Delion
MEX: Karina Pérez, Madaí Pérez, Patricia Rétiz
NAM: Helalia Johannes, Beata Naigambo
NOR: Kirsten Melkevik Otterbu
NZL: Liza Hunter-Galvan, Nina Rillstone
PER: María Portillo
POL: Monika Drybulska, Dorota Gruca,
POR: Ana Dias, Inês Monteiro, Marisa Barros
PRK: Bun-Hui Jo, Yong-Ok Jong, Kum-Ok Kim
ROU: Lidia Simon, Luminita Talpos, Constantina Tomescu
RUS: Galina Bogomolova, Irina Timofeyeva, Svetlana Zakharova
RWA: Epiphanie Nyirabarame
SRB: Olivera Jevtic
SVK: Zuzana Šaríková
TLS: Mariana Dias Ximenes
TUR: Bahar Dogan
UKR: Tetyana Filonyuk, Oksana Sklyarenko
USA: Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy Boulet, Blake Russell
ZIM: Tabitha Tsatsa
Men:
AND: Antoni Bernadó
ANG: João N’Tyamba
AUS: Lee Troop
BDI: Joachim Nshimirimana
BEL: Tom Van Hooste
BLR: Andrei Gordeev
BOT: Ndabili Bashingili
BRA: Franck de Almeida, José de Souza, Marilson dos Santos
BRN: Abdulhak Elgorche Zakaria, Al Mustafa Riyadh, Nasar Sakar Saeed
CAM: Bunting Hem
CHI: Roberto Echeverria
CHN: Haiyang Deng, Zhuhong Li, Longyun Ren
COL: Juan Carlos Cardona
CPV: Nelson Cruz
ECU: Franklin Tenorio
ERI: Yared Asmerom, Yonas Kifle, Tesfayohannes Mesfin, Ghebru Sereke
ESP: José Manuel Martínez, Julio Rey, José Ríos
EST: Pavel Loskutov
ETH: Gashaw Asfaw, Tsegay Kebede, Deriba Merga
FIN: Janne Holmén, Francis Kirwa
FRA: Simon Munyutu
GBR: Dan Robinson
GUA: Alfredo Arévalo, José Amado García
IRL: Martin Fagan
ISR: Seteng Ayele
ITA: Ottaviano Andriani, Stefano Baldini, Ruggero Pertile
JPN: Tsuyoshi Ogata, Satoshi Osaki, Atsushi Sato
KAZ: Takhir Mamashayev
KEN: Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Martin Lel, Samuel Kamau Wanjiru
KOR: Yi-yong Kim, Bong-ju Lee, Myongseung Lee
LBA: Ali Mabrouk El Zaidi
LES: Clement Mabothile Lebopo, Simon Tsotang Maine, Moses Moeketsi Mosuhli
LIE: Marcel Tschopp
MAR: Abderrahime Bouramdane, Jaouad Gharib, Abderrahim Goumri
MDA: Iaroslav Musinschi
MEX: Francisco Bautista, Carlos Cordero, Procopio Franco
MGL: Ser-Od Bat-Ochir
MNE: Goran Stojiljkovic
NED: Kamiel Maase
NEP: Arjun Kumar Basnet
PER: Costantino León
POL: Arkadiusz Sowa, Henryk Szost
POR: Luís Feiteira, Paulo Gomes, Hélder Ornelas
PRK: Il-Nam Kim, Song-Chol Pak, Kum-Song Ri
QAT: Yousf Othman Qader, Mubarak Hassan Shami
RSA: Norman Dlomo, Hendrick Ramaala
RUS: Grigoriy Andreyev, Oleg Kulkov, Aleksey Sokolov
SLO: Roman Kejžar
SUI: Viktor Röthlin
TAN: Getuli Bayo, Mohamed Ikoki Msandeki, Samson Ramadhani
TLS: Augusto Soares
TPE: Wen-Chien Wu
TUR: Abdil Ceylan
UGA: Alex Malinga
UKR: Olexandr Kuzin, Vasyl Matviychuk, Oleksandr Sitkovskyy
USA: Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein, Brian Sell
VEN: Luis Fonseca
ZIM: Mike Fokoroni
August 12, 2008
The women’s marathon of this years Olympic Games will take place on August, 17th (7.30 local time Beijing). Who are the favourites? Who are the underdogs?
The IAAF-rankings of this years performances in the marathon is as follows:
2:22:38 Yingying Zhang CHN
2:22:42 Berhane Adere ETH
2:22:53 Galina Bogomolova RUS
2:24:14 Irina Timofeyeva RUS
2:24:39 Svetlana Zakharova RUS
2:24:40 Dire Tune ETH
2:25:10 Mara Yamauchi GBR
2:25:33 Martha Komu KEN
2:25:37 Gete Wami ETH
Several race favorites have not run a serious marathon in 2008 and therefore this year’s ranking is not too meaningful.
Unlike the men’s race, the women will go out much faster and the Asians, i.e. the Japanese and the Chinese will put a lot of pressure on the field. Especially the Chinese have a lot of pressure from their home crowd and it remains to be seen if they can meet the expectations. A big question mark is the world record holder Paula Radcliffe, who suffered from an injury most of 2008 but reportedly put 8-9hours of training/day in her preparation. However the real mileage is missing and Paula might suffer after 30-35km when the muscular factor is coming into play.
The Ethiopians and Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba are other challengers for the Japanese and Chinese.
Also Germany is represented in the woman’s marathon. After the withdrawal of Irina Mikitenko (PB: 2:24:14h) the German marathon team is reduced to two participants: Susanne Hahn (PB: 2:29:35h) and Melanie Kraus (PB: 2:27:57h). A placement between 20 and 40 would be an achievement for both of them and more should not be expected.
August 12, 2008
After Germanys Irina Mikitenko, a second race favorite had to withdraw from the Olympic marathon in Beijing only short before the actual race.
Defending Champion Mizuki Noguchi (JAP) informed the Japanese Team, that she can’t participate due to an injury in her left thigh muscle and her groin. Noguchi ran an Asian record in the Berlin marathon 2005 (2:19:12) and won the Gold medal of the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 (2:26:20).
So far no woman could defend an Olympic title and with the withdrawal of Noguchi this streak will continue.
August 6, 2008
The men’s marathon of the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing will take place on the last day of the Olympics on August, 24th. Who are the favourites? Who are the underdogs?
The current standigs of the Best times in the marathon this year is as follows (only participants of the Olympics are included):
2:05:15 Martin Lel KEN
2:05:24 Samuel Kamau Wanjiru KEN
2:05:30 Abderrahim Goumri MAR
2:06:17 Ryan Hall USA
2:06:38 Deriba Merga ETH
2:06:40 Tsegay Kebede ETH
2:07:23 Viktor Röthlin SUI
2:07:46 Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot KEN
2:08:23 Mubarak Hassan Shami QAT
2:08:34 Yared Asmerom ERI
2:08:36 Satoshi Osaki JPN
2:08:51 Yonas Kifle ERI
2:09:24 Simon Munyutu FRA
2:09:38 José Ríos ESP
Remember, those are only the times of this year and there might be runners that have been selected because of performances in last autumn.
As everyone knows (or should know) by now, marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie is running 10.000m in the Beijing Games. This – for sure – opens the door for the Kenyans, that are still waiting for a first gold medal in an Olympic marathon. However, it remains to be seen if they can brake this ban. The men’s race will most likely will be a tactical one. We will see some unknown guys running in front after 5 to 15km to present themself and to get some media attention (as it’s usual the case in an Olympic marathon). The favourites will bunch up behind and will be very careful in choosing the right pace, i.e. a slow pace. The eventual winner will run a negative split, because the real race will start at around 30K and from there on it will be really interesting. There are definitely some guys in the field that have a good speed, so the Kenyan’s should be careful. On the other hand Samuel Wanjiru should have the ability to run the second half sub 1:05.
So, at the end it will be Kenya against the rest of the world. The European hope is of course Viktor Röthlin of Switzerland, who already showed great performances in similar conditions (e.g. in Osaka last year). Also the Americans Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein will be in contention and will bring some colour into the lead pack.
On the other hand it’s an Olympic marathon and the last Olympic marathons always were won by outsiders – at least on the men’s side.
Unfortunately there won’t be any German marathon runners, even if 3 Germans broke the IAAF B-standard of 2:18 in the qualification period (Martin Beckmann: 2:15:22, Falk Cierpinski: 2:15:48, Mario Kröckert: 2:16:07)
August 4, 2008
World marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe (GBR) announced that she is going to run in the women’s marathon of the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008. After arriving at the training camp of Team Great Britain in Macau she stated: “I’m racing unless my leg breaks down” … “It’s the Olympics so you take a risk on it.” After some doubts about her shape because of a stress fracture in her left leg, she now takes the role of the women to beat for Gold.
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