|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Takahashi takes historic Olympic marathon gold for Japan
= = SYDNEY, Sept 24 (AFP) - Naoko Takahashi became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic athletics gold medal on Sunday, when she destroyed a world-class marathon field in the heat of the Sydney sunshine to take the women's 42.2-kilometre (26 miles 385 yards) race here. Takahashi pulled away from her opponents with some fearless front running in the latter stages, crossing the finishing line in Stadium Australia in an Olympic record 2hr 23min 13sec, a world-class time despite the tough course in gruelling conditions. Her winning time was 1min 47sec faster than the time France's Alain Mimoun ran to win the men's Olympic title when the Games were last staged in Australia, in Melbourne in 1956. "I didn't know for certain that I had won until 30 metres from the finish," Takahashi said. "My legs were hurting badly at the end. This was the hardest race of my life." Takahashi's uncertainty was because she was pursued all the way by the relentless Lidia Simon, of Romania, last year's World Championship third-placer. With only 7km to the finish, Simon was finally dropped by her Japanese rival's relentless surges, but she rallied to finish in 2:23:22. "I'm so very tired," Simon said after she crossed the line. "I had to take a lot of risks to try to stay with Takahashi. I never expected her to run so fast." There was one more unexpected hurdle for Takahashi to pass when a volunteer approached her in the mistaken belief the race was over with the final lap of Stadium Australia to run but after quick intervention from an official she was allowed to complete the race unmolested. Takahashi's victory was also Japan's first Olympic athletic gold for men or women since 1936 when Naoto Tajima won the triple jump in Berlin. Also in 1936, Korean-born Kitei Son won the Berlin Olympic marathon for Japan but Son always maintained that although he was wearing a Japanese vest, in his heart he won that medal for Korea. In 1948 Son, who became a national hero in Korea for emphasising his true nationality, carried the flag for Korea at the Opening Ceremony in London and in 1988 he took part in the final stages of the torch relay in Seoul. But thanks to Takahashi Japan, a marathon-crazy country, now have a gold that no-one can take away from them. Kenya's Joyce Chepchumba, twice a winner of big city marathons in Chicago and London, held on strongly in the later stages to win the bronze medal in 2:24:45. "No other victory can compare with my Olympic bronze medal," she said. An estimated quarter of the population of Japan, where marathon running is almost regarded as a national sport, will have risen early to watch Takahashi's golden run. Takahashi had escaped the inevitable pressure of expectation at home by spending the past two months training at high altitude in the mountains in Boulder, Colorado. She did so much running in just eight weeks, she wore out 16 pairs of training shoes. She came to prominence when winning the 1998 Asian Games marathon by 13 minutes, and this performance was no less uncompromising, eliminating some her biggest rivals early in the piece. Tegla Loroupe, the fastest woman in the field, was effectively out of the race barely 10 kilometres into the race, jogging well off the pace. The world record-holder eventually finished 13th in 2:29:45, complaining of stomach pain. "I have been sick all morning," the Kenyan said before being wheeled away for medical treatment for suspected food poisoning. The decisive move at the front came relatively early in the race. Just into the second hour of running, Takahashi took off. At first, only her team mate, Ari Ichihashi, last year's world silver medallist, could match the burst, but they were soon joined by Simon and her team mate Alina Gherasim, plus Eri Yamaguchi, the third Japanese, and Esther Wanjiru, the 1998 Commonwealth 10,000m champion. As the course got hilly and the weather hotter, the runners began to suffer. "It was hell," said Gherasim, who would struggle to the finish 29th of the 45 "survivors". The lead pack was down to three by halfway, reached in 1hr 11min 47sec, Takahashi having Simon and Ichihashi for company. Further back lay Fatuma Roba, Ethiopia's defending champion, and Chepchumba. The course was cruel to the runners, presenting them with with five stiff hill climbs to negotiate in the last 15km. Up the first, on to Anzac Bridge, Takahashi attacked again, dropping Ichihashi and, for a moment, Simon, too. But the tough little Romanian battled back on to terms. Behind them, Chepchumba closed on Ichihashi for the bronze medal. The pattern of the race was becoming familiar to Japanese observers, who have seen Simon win the prestigious Osaka Marathon for the past three years by out-kicking runners from Japan over the last 5km. Takahashi knew that too well, and as the temperature out on the course soared above 20 degrees, the 28-year-old from Chiba, near Tokyo, made things hotter still for Simon. On the third climb, the Romanian was finally broken, Takahashi removing her wraparound shades as if to signal that she was truly getting down to business, the gap back to Chepchumba in third now more than a minute. What followed was effectively a victory parade in front of roadside spectators, sometimes five deep along the course.
|
