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December 2009
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2008 in Review: Women's Road Running & Race Walking |
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03.01.2009 |
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Paula Radcliffe finished the year on a high winning
the New York Marathon with the season's best
timing.
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Paula Radcliffe (GBR)
and whether she could make it to the Olympics in good form was again the talk
of the season. The Briton had missed the Osaka World Championships in 2007
after giving birth to her first child in January 2007, but in 2008 she battled again,
albeit with injuries.
Radcliffe did compete in her third Olympics, but her fate was the same this
time too: no medal with a 2:32:38 marathon finish and 23rd place in the
competition. She did come back to win her second successive New York Marathon
in November clocking a 2:23:56 season's best there.
Indeed there was a European victory in Beijing in the marathon, but it came
from a very surprising source. 38-year-old Constantina Tomescu (ROU) hadn't
exactly showed any promise for an Olympic gold in her two 2008 marathon races
in the run up to the Beijing Games. She finished 9th in Osaka (2:28:15) and 8th
in London (2:27:45), but her Beijing performance put a rest to all
speculations.
Tomescu ran away from the leading pack including silver medalist Catherine
Ndebera (KEN) and Zhou Chunxiu (CHN) to record a clear victory in the end
clocking 2:26:44 season's best for the win. In late September Irina Mikitenko
(GER), who had missed the Beijing Games, ran a world leading 2:19:19 national
record to win the Berlin Marathon and become the second European under 2:20 in
the marathon. Mikitenko's mark is the second best on the European all time list
only preceded by Paula Radliffe's world record 2:15:25.
Women's walking season began in the usual ways with the Russian Winter
Championships in February. The best five times of the season in the world were
achieved in this race where 23-year-old Olga Kaniskina, the reigning World
champion from Osaka 2007, walked to a 1:25:11 personal best, under the standing
world record, but the world record application was not submitted.
Just 19-year-old Anisya Kirdyapkina walked the best ever junior result 1:25:30
in the same race with Tatyana Shemyakina who also clocked under 1:26 with her
third place finishing time 1:25:46. Kaniskina assumed her position as the
leading female walker last year and didn't surrender her place this season
either. Kaniskina, who has won her last five 20km races, also won the World Cup
in an another fast 1:25:42 time with Tatyana Sibileva (RUS) getting the second
place in 1:26:29.
In Beijing, Kaniskina
was determined and left the others no chance notching a clear win in 1:26:31
with the Olympic gold being her reward for a perfect season. Norwegian veteran,
36-year-old Kjersti Tysse Plätzer (NOR) capped another fine year with a
national record 1:27:07 and a silver medal with the third medal also going to
Europe as Elisa Rigaudo edged Chinese Liu Hong for the bronze medal times being
1:27:12 and 1:27:17 respectively.
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Olga Kaniskina of Russia claimed the 20km Walk
gold in Beijing.
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Maria Vasco (ESP) set
a national record for fifth in 1:27:25 with countrywoman Beatriz Pascual in
sixth (1:27:44) and Olive Loughnane (IRL) seventh in 1:27:45. Almost a perfect
day by Europeans was furthermore compeleted by two more national records with
Ana Cabecinha (POR 8th 1:27:46) and reigning Olympic champion Athanasia
Tsoumeleka (GRE 9th
1:27:54).
Notable
stats:
Marathon
New entries
for the European alltime list:
2nd
2:19:19 Irina Mikitenko GER
18th
2:24:14 Irina Timofeyeva
RUS
24th
2:25:03 Mara Yamauchi GBR
28th
2:25:12 Lyubov Morgunova
RUS
Career head
to head between Europe's best:
Mara Yamauchi GBR
- Galina Bogomolova RUS 3-1
Paula Radcliffe
GBR - Svetlana Zakharova RUS 2-2
Paula Radcliffe
GBR - Mara Yamauchi GBR 2-1
Svetlana
Zakharova RUS - Mara Yamauchi GBR 2-2
Constantina
Tomescu ROU - Galina Bogomolova RUS 2-2
Paula Radcliffe
GBR - Constantina Tomescu ROU 3-2
Constantina
Tomescu ROU - Irina Timofeyeva RUS 3-2
Svetlana
Zakharova RUS - Constantina Tomescu ROU 5-3
Constantina
Tomescu ROU - Mara Yamauchi GBR 5-2
20 km walk
New entries
for the European alltime list:
2nd 1:25:11
Olga Kaniskina RUS
6th 1:25:30 Ansiya Kirdyapkina RUS
7th 1:25:46 Tatyana Shemyakina RUS
11th
1:26:16 Tatyana Sibileva
RUS
12th
1:26:16 Lyudmila Arkhipova
RUS
15th
1:26:36 Tatyana Kalmykova
RUS
8th 1:27:07
Kjersti Tysse Plätzer NOR
20th
1:27:12 Elisa Rigaudo ITA
2008 head
to head stats between best Europeans:
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Anisya Kirdyapkina RUS 2-0
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Tatyana Shemyakina RUS 2-0
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Tatyana Sibileva RUS 3-0
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Elisa Rigaudo ITA 2-0
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Maria Vasco ESP 2-0
Anisya
Kirdyapkina RUS - Tatyana Sibileva RUS 1-1
Tatyana
Shemyakina RUS - Tatyana Sibileva RUS 1-1
Kjersti
Tysse Plätzer NOR - Elisa Rigaudo ITA 2-0
Elisa Rigaudo ITA
- Maria Vasco ESP 1-1
Career head
to head between best Europeans:
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Anisya Kirdyapkina RUS 3-0
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Tatyana Shemyakina RUS 4-0
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Tatyana Sibileva RUS 7-1
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Kjersti Tysse Plätzer NOR 4-0
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Elisa Rigaudo ITA 6-0
Olga Kaniskina
RUS - Maria Vasco ESP 5-0
Anisya
Kirdyapkina RUS - Tatyana Sibileva RUS 2-1
Tatyana
Shemyakina RUS - Tatyana Sibileva RUS 2-2
Kjersti Tysse
Plätzer NOR - Tatyana Sibileva RUS 2-1
Kjersti
Tysse Plätzer NOR - Elisa Rigaudo ITA 7-5
Kjersti Tysse
Plätzer NOR - Maria Vasco ESP 7-5
Elisa Rigaudo ITA
- Maria Vasco ESP 10-7
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