Joyce Chepchumba at 2002 London Marathon (© Getty Images Allsport)
When Joyce Chepchumba and Margaret Okayo sat next to each other at yesterday’s Flora London Marathon press conference, it was the closest the pair have been since the latter made her marathon debut in Chicago in 1999.
Okayo thought she had the race won that day only for Chepchumba, who had fallen earlier in the race, to outsprint her for a one second victory.
Okayo's Athens bound but Chepchumba is not
The two Kenyans go head-to-head on Sunday with the London race spiced up by the fact one has been selected for the Olympic marathon in Athens while the other hasn’t.
Chepchumba competed in the last two Olympic marathons, and even took bronze four years ago in Sydney, but unless things dramatically change between now and August she will have to watch this year’s race on television, while Okayo lines up among the favourites in the Greek capital.
Chepchumba admits she is disappointed to be left out, but admits: “I have achieved a lot of success as a marathon runner so it doesn’t bother me as much as it might have done in the past. I have been to two Olympics and I have a medal from Sydney, so if the federation decide not to send me that is their decision.
“I have no problem with them selecting Catherine (Ndereba, the world champion) or Margaret, but the other girl (Alice Chelagat, who won the inaugural Nairobi Marathon last year) has not run as fast as many of us other Kenyan women."
"I think they wanted to give a chance to a home-based runner but perhaps they should have held one place back to see if anyone runs a fast time in London or Boston. They told me if I ran the World Championships in Paris I would be selected for the Olympics but now they have named three other runners.”
Lisbon victory bodes well for Chepchumba
Chepchumba says the decision will not motivate her any more to produce an outstanding run on Sunday, but after her recent Lisbon Half-marathon victory she is expecting a good performance. She says: “The Olympic situation will not come into it on Sunday, you go into every marathon trying your best so you don’t need anything extra to motivate you.
“This will be my seventh London Marathon and it is my favourite course, almost my second home, and before I retire I would love to win for a third time. But there are many good runners so while I expect to run well we will have to see if it will be enough.”
Bad back for Okayo
In contrast, Okayo has never raced into the UK and comes into the marathon without the boost of a good run in Lisbon. A bad back, caused by the unseasonably cool conditions in the Portuguese capital, saw her struggle to fifth place but she insists that is behind her and she is raring to go.
Her only disappointment is that World record-holder Paula Radcliffe will not be in London this week. She says: “Even if Paula was not running, I wish she had been here to watch so I could have met her.”
Okayo willing to learn from Radcliffe
Although Okayo has won each of her last three marathons in course records, she admits she still has much to learn and says: “I want to meet Paula and ask her how she does certain things. I would like to talk to her about her speedwork, how she rests, and anything else that can help me become as good a runner as she is.”
It’s somewhat doubtful Radcliffe would be willing to hand over the secret of success to a woman who may become one of her biggest dangers should she run the Olympic marathon in August, but you can’t blame a girl for asking!
Okayo, who spends three months of the year training in Brescia, Italy, already holds the course records for two of the world’s most prestigious marathons – Boston (2:20:43, 2002) and New York (2:24:21) as well as setting them in four other races over the distance.
Kenyan record attack?
She admits Radcliffe’s mark is not in her thoughts for Sunday but could attack Ndereba’s Kenyan national record of 2:18:47.
“If I run really well on Sunday, it may put more pressure on me going into the Olympics but I will just have to deal with that. A fast time would mean greater expectations of me in Athens but there will be many great runners at the Olympics so I would not say I would be the favourite.”
NB. a detailed race preview will be published on www.iaaf.org at the end of this week.
