Olympic champion makes it two in a row despite injuries

Japan’s Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi won the Berlin marathon for the second year in a row on Sunday but was unable to reclaim the w...

Japan’s Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi won the Berlin marathon for the second year in a row on Sunday but was unable to reclaim the women’s world best time. Takahashi, the first woman to break the two hours 20 minute barrier, clocked 2:21:49 ahead of Mexican Adriana Fernandez. Raymond Kipkoech outsprinted compatriot Simon Biwott to take the men’s race in 2:06.47 as Kenyan runners filled the first five places.

Organisers said the race featured the largest field ever of 32,752. They said the London marathon had 30,000 runners, while 28,800 raced in Chicago and 23,600 in New York. Setting a fierce early pace, Takahashi was inside Kenyan Catherine Ndereba’s mark of 2:18:47 but slowed gradually throughout the 42.195-km race.

Boosted by the enthusiastic crowds of more than a million spectators, temperatures of around 12 degrees, low cloud and the absence of any wind, Takahashi ran strongly on the course wending its way through 10 of Berlin’s 18 districts and twice crossing lines marking where the Berlin Wall once stood.

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Wearing sunglasses despite the cloudy conditions, Takahashi ran evenly with Fernandez until she moved to the front at the 25-km point and opened up a 100-metre lead over the next 2,000 metres. Her five-km time of 16:32 was 1:09 below Ndereba’s record pace and at 10 kms she was still 45 seconds under. At 15 kms the margin was reduced to 29 seconds as she began to slow and by 20 kms she was 12 seconds over.

Despite injuries that cut her training from five to three months, Takahashi, 30, had gone into the race with an eye on regaining the title as the fastest marathoner. “My condition wasn’t as good as last year,” she said.

“I tried to prepare as well as possible in the three months training before the race. I just wasn’t as sure of myself this year. The crowds were again fantastic.”

Takahashi has now won six consecutive marathons dating back to 1998. She said her main aim was to become the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic marathon titles with a win in Athens in 2004 after her gold in Sydney.

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“I saw my splits early in the race but knew that I wasn’t feeling great physically and decided to concentrate on winning the race rather than a record,” she said. “This was an important step towards Athens and I know I can do better.”

Takahashi, who drinks about five litres a day of a juice made from giant killer hornets, said she had been slowed down in the last six kilometres by a blister on her right heel. (Reuters)