Two
women, one goal
Jörg Wenig for the
IAAF
28 September 2001 – Berlin - Olympic
Champion Naoko Takahashi and world best
performance holder Tegla Loroupe both
want to break the 2:20 barrier in
Sunday’s 28th Real Berlin
Marathon
Sunday’s race will have a size and significance never seen before in any running event in Germany. Additionally to a record field with 31,406 runners from 85 nations who have entered the race there will be another 6,400 inline skaters, wheelchair athletes and walkers plus more than 6300 pupils participating in a 4 k race. After the terror attacks in New York and Washington runners are asked to wear a black ribbon to show their sympathy for those killed in the US. The motto of the race (“Run for Peace”) was praised by leading German politicians and by Dr. Jacques Rogge. The President of the International Olympic Committee sent a message of greeting to organisers saying: “I welcome the motto of this year’s Berlin Marathon and that the organisers show solidarity with the people in the USA.”
But also in terms of elite sport, Sunday’s race could well be outstanding. After producing two world best times in the last three years (Ronaldo da Costa ran 2:06:05 in 1998, Tegla Loroupe finished 2:20:43 in 1999), this time it is a marathon barrier that organisers from the once divided city hope will be broken in Berlin. So will the marathon wall be broken twelve years after the Berlin wall was pulled down?
Since the mid eighties the best female marathon runners have tried on many occasions to run the 42,195 km under 2:20 hours. But athletes like Ingrid Kristiansen, Joan Benoit-Samuelson, Wanda Panfil, Uta Pippig or Tegla Loroupe have all failed to do so. But with the current holder of the world best, Tegla Loroupe (Kenya), and the reigning Olympic Champion, Naoko Takahashi (Japan), both in Sunday’s race there should be a good chance – especially as it looks that the weather will be fine once again in Berlin on race day.
“I hope I will be able to break the world best, but more important for me is that I can enjoy my race and that I am satisfied with the result”, Naoko Takahashi said.
The Japanese running hero, whose presence has brought up to 100 Japanese media people into Berlin, does not say what sort of time it takes to satisfy herself. Nor does she speak about times and the mileage in her training. “I had no problems during my preparations for the Berlin Marathon and I am in the same form as before my other big marathon races”, Takahashi said, who had trained in Boulder (Colorado) for the past few months and had training runs in high altitude of up to 3,500 metres.
“I feel that I finally can run on an optimal course in Berlin. I have always wished to be able to run on such a good course to show my full strength. I want to reach the finish in two hours and a couple of more minutes – but I would not like to go into detail on this matter”, Naoko Takahashi said and added: “It is good to know that there is a runner like Tegla Loroupe, who is one of the best in the world, in this race. It is an extra motivation for me.”
There are rumours that Naoko Takahashi might run on schedule for a 2:18 on Sunday. “If she will start that fast, then Tegla will probably not follow her, because this would be a region where we would not know what might happen towards the end of the race”, Volker Wagner, the German coach and manager of Tegla Loroupe, said. “But if everything is fine on Sunday, Tegla should be able to run a sub 2:20 in Berlin.”
After winning in Berlin 1999 and London 2000 Tegla Loroupe had been unlucky in her marathon races in Sydney, New York and London. And there was another weak performance in the Great North Run nearly two weeks ago. In this half marathon Tegla Loroupe finished eighth in 72:04 minutes. But when arriving in Berlin this morning from her training base near Detmold, she was very optimistic and explained: “I had a very hard training week before the race in Newcastle. And after about 5 k I felt a little problem in my muscles. So I did not want to push any more because I did not want to risk an injury.”
As Tegla Loroupe reported she did a 35 k training run. She had run this in 2:17 before other marathons, this time she timed 2:07.
“She has a much better endurance than two years ago,” Volker Wagner said.
In today’s press conference Tegla Loroupe was also asked about Naoko Takahashi.
“Well, this is a marathon. And first of all it is important to have a good race. Each of us will run our own race, because I don’t know what sort of training Takahashi did, and she does not know what I did. But it is great to have an Olympic Champion in this race.”
The Real Berlin Marathon will be shown live on German and Japanese television and on the internet: www.berlin-marathon.com
