Mizuki Noguchi kept the Olympic Games women’s marathon title in Japan when she clinched gold yesterday in a time of 2hrs 26min 20sec. Noguchi, the 2003 World Championship silver medalist, inherits the title from her compatriot Naoko Takahashi, who took the gold medal in Sydney four years ago but who failed to qualify for Athens.
But it was a disastrous day for Britain’s world record holder Paula Radcliffe who pulled up in tears just after 35km when lying third, apparently suffering from a leg injury. Radcliffe had been the overwhelming favorite for the gold medal, but she was out of contention after 25km.
“I am very happy with this win,” said Noguchi. “Thank you very much and thanks to all the people who came out to support us.” Stifling heat contributed to Noguchi’s winning time being the second slowest since the women’s marathon was introduced into the athletics program in 1984 but she was not concerned about the clock.
“I didn’t think about the time. I just wanted to get a medal,” said the diminutive Noguchi, who is only 1.50m. “I was well prepared for this race. I knew there would be difficult conditions, like the heat and the sun, and a great deal of fatigue. I think that Radcliffe couldn’t stand the difficult conditions.”
Eight women, including Radcliffe, went through the halfway point together in 1:14.02. However, Noguchi made a decisive surge at 25km that broke up the pack. She was initially accompanied by Ethiopia’s Elefenesh Alemu, who was to eventually finish fourth, but the 26-year-old Japanese runner then pushed again three kilometers further down the road and was never headed.
Noguchi continued to pour on the pace but could only relax when she was on the track of Athens’ 1896 Olympic stadium, at which point she realized that the title was hers and started waving to the crowd.
Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba came through strongly in the final quarter of the race to take the silver medal and give Noguchi some nervous moments.
After being 32secs behind Noguchi at 33km, the 2003 world champion gradually whittled down her lead to finish just 12 seconds in arrears, coming home in 2:26.32 after recovering from a difficult spell in the middle of the race.
Noguchi took her impressive record to three wins out of four marathon outings, having not raced a marathon since the World Championships last August.
Deena Kastor, of the United States, came through strongly in the later stages of the race to get the bronze in 2:27:20. Kastor, who has battled to overcome several injuries in the last 12 months sobbed uncontrollably as she ran down the finishing straight in Athens’ famous Panathinaiko stadium which hosted the first modern Games in 1896.
“The last lap I was in tears because I didn’t know whether or not I was third or fourth,” said Kastor, who becomes the first American to win a medal in the event since Joan Benoit memorably won the inaugural race in 1984.
