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News29 Sep 2001


2:19:46 - Takahashi blows away marathon best in Berlin

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2:19:46 Takahashi runs women’s marathon best
Erik Kirschbaum (Reuters)
30 September 2001 – Berlin - Japan’s Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi become the first woman to run a marathon in under two hours 20 minutes, smashing the world best time by almost a full minute when she won the Berlin marathon on Sunday.

Takahashi took advantage of near-ideal weather conditions and huge enthusiastic crowds who lined the streets of the German capital to break the 2:20 barrier and win one of the world’s biggest marathon races in 2:19.46.

Takahashi, in her first marathon since winning gold at the Sydney Games last year, led a field of 37,800 from shortly after the start and beat the mark of 2:20.43 set on the same flat course in Berlin two years ago by Kenya’s Tegla Loroupe.

Loroupe had hoped to defend her mark but fell behind some 50  metres by three kilometres as the course passed through the city’s Brandenburg Gate landmark near the Reichstag. The Kenyan was never a threat, finishing a distant second in 2:28.03

Under overcast skies and cool temperatures of 14 degrees Celsius, Takahashi ran the first six kms of the 42.195-km race against slight easterly headwinds that put her some 45 seconds behind the pace Loroupe set in her record run in 1999.

But the course turned around after six kilometres, heading west, and Takahashi, 29, then had the benefit of a steady tailwind.

By the 25-km mark she had moved 45 seconds ahead of the record pace and at one point late in the race was 90 seconds in front before slowing slightly in the final 2,000 metres.

“The course was very good and the weather conditions were also very good,” said Takahashi, adding that she had picked Berlin for her world-best attempt because of its fast course and big crowds.

It was the third time in four years that a world-best time had been set on the flat and fast course that has a total inclination of just 30 metres.

Men’s Winner

Kenya’s Joseph Ngolepus was supposed to be a pacemaker for the men’s race but elected not to drop out as originally planned and won in a time of 2:08.47.

He beat compatriot Willy Cheruiyot into second in 2:09.08 followed by another Kenyan, William Kiplagat, in third in 2:09.55.

Cheered on by more than a million spectators, Takahashi had a team of five pacemakers who doubled as bodyguards for the diminutive runner, who weighs 47 kg and stands 1.63 metres.  “It was delightful the way the Berlin crowds supported me,” Takahashi said. “I am very happy. In the past I looked to the marathon as a competition to win. This time it was important to try to break the record.”

Organisers renamed the race a “Run for Peace” following the attacks on U.S. targets earlier this month and many runners wore black ribbons on their jerseys to mourn the victims.

Takahashi collected 210,000 marks ($100,000) for the victory and record. She had never run in a mass marathon and used the pacemakers to escort her through the first 35 kilometres.

She took up marathon running four years ago and won the Olympic gold medal in 2:23.14 -- breaking the Olympic best of 2:25.52 set in 1984 by Joan Benoit of the United States.

“I prepared well for today,” she said. “I’m not anyone special. I’m just a normal person. I’m a normal athlete. This was a great challenge to run this race today.”

She said the world’s fastest time was just as important to her as the Olympic victory.

“Last year I set both goals. I wanted to win the Olympics and run a world’s fastest time at some point. Both goals were very important for me.”

Leading results from the Berlin

marathon on Sunday:

    Men:

  1. Joseph Ngolepus (Kenya) 2:08:47
  2. William Cheruiyot (Kenya) 2:09.08
  3. William Kiplagat   (Kenya) 2:09.55
  4. Tsuyoshi Ogata    (Japan) 2:10.06
  5. Danilo Goffi (Italy) 2:10.35
  6. Frederick Chumba   (Kenya) 2:10.36
  7. Makhosonke Fikha (South Africa) 2:10.47
  8. Viktor Roethlin  (Switzerland) 2:10.54
  9. Tesfaye Eticha (Ethiopia) 2:11.19
 10. Jimmy Muindi  (Kenya)  2:11.42

      Women:
  1. Naoko Takahashi (Japan) 2:19.46 (world best)
  2. Tegla Loroupe  (Kenya) 2:28.03
  3. Kathrin Wessel (Germany) 2:28.27
  4. Shiki Terasaki  (Japan) 2:33.23
  5. Ai Sugihara (Japan)  2:34.56
  6. Bev Hartigan (Britain) 2:36.02
  7. Tina Maria Ramos (Spain) 2:36.25
  8. Dagmar Rabensteiner (Austria) 2:38.03
  9. Christine Stief  (Germany) 2:38.52
 10. Susanne Johansson  (Sweden) 2:40.29

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