Phil Minshull (Reuters)
27 March 2000 - Lisbon - Kenyan Tegla Loroupe plans an unprecedented Olympic women's distance double at Sydney this year with an attempt on both the marathon and 10,000 metres titles.
The holder of the women's marathon world best told Reuters on Monday she would run the 10,000 if she were given a wild card by the Kenyan federation.Loroupe won the Lisbon half marathon for the sixth time in the past seven years on Sunday.
Loroupe clocked two hours 20 minutes 43 seconds at the Berlin Marathon last September, the fastest time by a women, and will compete in the London marathon on April 16. She has also won two world championship bronze medals over 10,000m.
Despite her phenomenal talent, winning medals in both events will impose huge demands on Loroupe's stamina and powers of recovery. The women's marathon in Sydney is scheduled for the morning of September 24 while the heats of the women's 10,000 are three days later.
Her manager Volker Wagner said Loroupe had recently been told by the Kenya athletics federation that she has to finish as one of the top two Kenyans home at the London marathon in order to be selected for the Sydney marathon.
In London she will run against her close friend and regular training partner Joyce Chepchumba, the 1997 and 1999 winner of the London Marathon.
If all goes to plan, the Sydney Olympics will be the first major championship where Loroupe has run a marathon, having concentrated in the past on the big city races of London, Amsterdam, Berlin and New York.
