|
|
|
|
|
|
December 2009
|
|
 |
|
Mikitenko and Baldini to compete at Great Australian Run |
|
|
|
19.11.2009 |
 |
Irina Mikitenko of Germany is set to compete at the
Great Australian Run to be held in Melbourne on
29 November. (Picture Alliance)
|
Two-time London Marathon winner Irina Mikitenko of Germany has confirmed her participation for the Great Australian Run, a 15km road race to be held in Melbourne, Australia, on 29 November.
The Melbourne star cast includes the past two Olympic Marathon champions - Beijing winner Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya and Italian Stefano Baldini, the champion from Athens 2004 - in the men's field.
Mikitenko and Wanjiru were recently crowned World Marathon Majors champions for 2008-09 seasons following their sensational performances on the prestigious international Marathon circuit.
The World Marathon Majors is a series consisting of five of the largest and most renowned Marathon races in the world: the Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon and New York City Marathon.
With victories in London ('09), Berlin ('08) and a second place in Chicago ('09), the 37-year-old Mikitenko mustered 90 points to emerge as the overall winner in the women's category while Wanjiru also collected 90 points with victories in London ('09) and Chicago ('09).
Taking out the 2008 and 2009 London Marathons, Mikitenko became the fourth fastest female Marathon runner in history when she clocked 2:19:19 to win the Berlin Marathon in 2008.
Placing second at the 2009 Chicago Marathon last month, the former Kazakhstan athlete will arrive in Melbourne in top form, ready to battle Olympic bronze medallist Deena Kastor of the USA and Australia's best distance runner and 2004 world CrossCcountry champion Benita Willis (formerly Johnson).
The Great Australian Run will mark Mikitenko's second visit Down Under, her first being in Sydney for the 2000 Olympic Games, where she finished fifth in the final of the 5000 metres.
Baldini, the reigning European champion in Marathon, is expected to give a tough challenge to Wanjiru.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
