Baldini for New York

Reigning 2004 Olympic and 2006 European Marathon champion Stefano Baldini of Italy will run the ING New York City Marathon 2006 on 5 November.

Baldini joins an exciting men’s field that already includes defending champion and marathon world record-holder Paul Tergat of Kenya and a trio of American standouts including 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi and Olympians Alan Culpepper and Dathan Ritzenhein.

This will be Baldini’s fourth appearance in the ING New York City Marathon. He placed third in 1997 with a time of 2:09:31 and was fifth in 2002 with a time of 2:09:12. He also ran in 1996, but did not finish the race. A victory for Baldini this year would mark the fifth time an Italian man has hoisted the first-place trophy at the New York City Marathon. Italians captured three consecutive titles from 1984 to 1986, led by Orlando Pizzolato’s back-to-back victories in 1984 and 1985. Gianni Poli continued the streak in 1986, while Giacomo Leone became the most recent Italian man to win New York in 1996. Franca Fiacconi of Italy won the women’s title in 1998.

“I am very excited to participate in the ING New York City Marathon 2006 as the Olympic and European champion,” said Baldini. “I am always looking for a challenge and New York will provide that this year as most of the big names will be there. It is also a marathon with a big Italian tradition, so I hope to be in my best form for the first Sunday in November, because I want to confirm myself as a top marathon runner.”

Richard Finn for the IAAF