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Japanese Medal Hopes Riding With Women Marathoners
Posted September 1st, 2007 at 4:00 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Special Features, Live Race Coverage
Tomorrow morning’s women’s marathon will be the last opportunity for the Japanese team to win a medal at these 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics which draw to their conclusion tomorrow night. It was in Gothenburg in 1995 when the Japanese were last shut out of the medals, and in only two world championships have the home team not put at least one athlete on the medal stand: the Swedes in Gothenburg in 1995 and the Canadians in Edmonton in 2001.
No team has been more successful in the history of the IAAF World Championships women’s marathon than the Japanese. Of the 30 medals which have been distributed in the ten previous editions, Japan has won eight, double their nearest rival, Romania. In addition, they have won four of the last five World Cup team competitions which were first integrated with the World Championships in Athens in 1997. In Helsinki in 2005, the Japanese lost the Cup to the Kenyans by four minutes and are anxious to take it back.
Leading the Japanese will be veteran Reiko Tosa (pictured), the 31 year-old silver medalist from Edmonton in 2001 who boasts a 2:22:46 personal best. Tosa prepared for these championships in Kunming, China, according to a report in the DAILY YOMIURI newspaper.
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Zhou and Lel prevail in balmy 2007 London Marathon
Posted April 23rd, 2007 at 9:07 AM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Special Features, Live Race Coverage
As they mounted the top step of the podium near the finish line of the 26th Flora London Marathon, Zhou Chunxiu and Martin Lel basked in the warm sunshine which conspired with them to defeat two of the best marathon fields ever assembled.
With the mercury hitting 20°C (68°F) by the time the Zhou finished in a world leading 2:20:38, the warm temperatures combined with a cloudless sky had already taken its toll on some of the sport’s top stars.
Haile Gebrselassie, Stefano Baldini, Khalid Khannouchi, Meb Keflezighi, Galina Bogomolova, Ludmila Petrova, Kyoko Shimahara, Kathy Butler, Blake Russell, and Juan Carlos De La Ossa were just some of the athletes who couldn’t finish, while others were forced to jog the final miles to the finish.
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Kastor, Prokopcuka top the 2006 marathoner rankings
Posted December 28th, 2006 at 2:00 PM by Jamal Walker
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Race Results Weekly (RRW), the wire service of distance running, announced today that American Deena Kastor was the top-ranked female marathon runner of 2006.
Kastor, 33, of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., won the the Flora London Marathon last April in 2:19:36 amongst a very talented field of runners. This was the eighth-fastest performance of all-time and a North American record. Although she finished sixth at the ING NYC Marathon a few months ago, RRW still gave her the top ranking over Latvia’s Jelena Prokopcuka (this year’s runner-up).
Prokupcuka also had a superb year and arguably could have been ranked ahead of Kastor; finishing second at Boston and winning her second-consecutive ING NYC Marathon. Ethiopia’s Berhane Adere (winner of this year’s LaSalle Bak Chicago Marathon) finished third. Two Kenyans closed out the top 5: Rita Jeptoo (2006 Boston champion) and Catherine Ndereba (won at Osaka and finished third at NYC).
Below are the complete rankings and honorable mention selections:
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Cheruiyot, Adere Win the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon
Posted October 22nd, 2006 at 11:45 AM by Adam Jacobs
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Both the men’s and women’s races at toady’s LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon came down to the very last mile.
Running in the cold weather that has become characteristic of the Chicago Marathon, Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya and Ethiopia’s Berhane Adere came away as the male and female champions.
Cheruiyot, the 2006 Boston marathon winner, just barely beat out fellow Kenyan Daniel Njenga, with a time of 2:07:35. Cheruiyot’s winning time was a mere 5 seconds ahead of Njenga.
In what was nearly a very tragic moment, Cheruiyot fell as he crossed the finish line and slammed his head into the pavement. (Video of Cheruiyot’s Finish Line Fall) He would eventually be taken off in an ambulance. However, race officials assured everyone that taking the champion to the hospital was just a “precaution”.
With only about a kilometer left, Berhane Adere beat out Russia’s Galina Bogomolova to win the women’s field in 2:20:42. Adere’s time broke the Ethiopian national women’s record.
As we have mentioned in previous race coverage, the Chicago Marathon is a part of the World Marathon Majors. Cheruiyot’s win put him atop the Majors’ leader-board.
Who had the more impressive Boston Marathon debut?
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