1987 World Championships in Athletics – Women's marathon

Long distance running race at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics Women's marathon 1987 World Championships Stadio Olimpico, Rome 29 August 1987 42 27 2:25:17 Rosa Mota POR Zoya Ivanova URS Jocelyne Villeton FRA 1983 1991 The women's marathon was one of the road events at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome, Italy. It took place on 29 August 1987; the course started and finished at the Stadio Olimpico and passed several of Rome's historic landmarks. The race was won by Portugal's Rosa Mota in 2:25:17, a new championship record, ahead of Zoya Ivanova of the Soviet Union in second and France's Jocelyne Villeton in third. In warm conditions, the pre-race favourite, Mota, led from the start. Another of the runners expected to do well, Australia's Lisa Martin, was suffering from fatigue after working too hard in training, and she pulled out of the race after 25 km. Mota won the race by 7 minutes 21 seconds, but did not initially realise that she had finished the race, as she thought she still had to run another lap of the track in the stadium. As of 2024, this is the only time the women's marathon has been won by more than three minutes at these championships. Background The race started and finished at the Stadio Olimpico, and largely stayed within the area of central Rome enclosed by the Aurelian Walls. It skirted around the lower edges of three of the seven hills of Rome without climbing any of them, and passed several ancient landmarks, including the Colosseum, the Baths of Caracalla and St. Peter's Square.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54822098/ The buzzing bee pins butterfly to his blocks Keating Frank The Guardian 17 31 August 1987 Newspapers.comhttps://www.newspapers.com/clip/54822617/ They're Off and Running in Rome Dorr Dave St. Louis Post-Dispatch 29 August 1987 1C Newspapers.com Part of the course ran along cobbled streets, which along with the warm temperatures forecast, led to expectations that there would not be fast times in the race. Several of the world's quickest female marathoners were absent from the race.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54822781/ Waitz builds up to a painful letdown Hersh Phil Chicago Tribune 27 August 1987 8 Newspapers.com Ingrid Kristiansen, who was the world record holder, having run the 1985 London Marathon in 2:21:06, opted to run the 10,000 metres instead. Joan Benoit, the Olympic champion, was also missing, as she was pregnant. Grete Waitz, the reigning world champion suffered a suspected stress fracture in her foot after running a 5,000-metre time-trial on 15 August, and although she travelled to Rome and considered running with painkillers, she decided not to take the risk, and withdrew. In their absence, the favourites were Rosa Mota of Portugal and Australia's Lisa Martin. Mota was a two-time European champion, and the third quickest female marathoner, while Martin had run the fifth fastest women's marathon time. Both came into the Championships in less than ideal situations: Mota had been suffering from a urinary tract infection, while training in Florida, Martin had overtrained in hot conditions. Summary The race started at 16:55 local time on 29 August 1987, the opening day of the Championships,https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0503118396/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=TTDA&xid=99e9f6f6 Full programme for Rome The Times 29 August 1987 39 Gale in temperatures of around 80 F flip. Mota took the lead before the marathon left the stadium, and extended it as the race progressed. She completed the first half of the marathon in 1:12:10, and won by over seven minutes.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54821149/ Mota breezes in marathon Concannon Joe The Boston Globe 61 30 August 1987 Newspapers.com When she crossed the finish line, in 2:25:17, she continued running, as she thought she had another lap to complete. It was only when a race official flagged her down 30 metres into her second lap, telling her that she had finished, that she stopped. She blamed her mistake on the instructions she had received before the race: "an official told me I had to take two loops of the track".https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54821400/ U.S. pickings sparse in Rome meet Oberjuerge Paul Gannett News Service The Cincinnati Enquirer C-18 30 August 1987 Newspapers.com Mota's time was a new championship record, beating the 2:28:09 set by Grete Waitz at the 1983 marathon. Martin, who was expected to be the most likely to challenge Mota in the race withdrew after 25 km; she was falling back down the field, and her whole body felt sore. She blamed it residual fatigue from the problems she had suffered during training in Florida.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55288774/ Seeds of doubt give Martin sleepless night Grant Trevor The Age 31 August 1987 31 Newspapers.com Martin was one of nine runners to pull out of the race. Zoya Ivanova of the Soviet Union finished in second, in 2:32:38, while France's Jocelyne Villeton claimed bronze, in 2:32:53. Aftermath At the 1988 Olympics, Mota beat Martin by 13 seconds and became the only woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion simultaneously.In the Running: Tales of Extraordinary Runners Hewitt Phil Summerdale Chichester, West Sussex 2016 978-1-84953-886-2 158–159 Results + Resultshttps://www.worldathletics.org/results/world-athletics-championships/1987/2nd-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-6986221/women/marathon/final/result#resultheader Marathon women: 2nd IAAF World Championships in Athletics World Athletics 6 July 2020 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Rosa Mota POR2:25:17 CR World Athletics Championships Zoya Ivanova URS2:32:38 Jocelyne Villeton FRA2:32:53 4 Bente Moe NOR2:33:21 5 Yelena Tsukhlo URS2:33:55 6 Yekaterina Khramenkova URS2:34:23 7 Nancy Ditz USA2:34:54 8 Sinikka Keskitalo FIN2:35:16 9 Karolina Szabo HUN2:36:18 10 Miyuki Yamashita JPN2:36:55 11 Angie Pain GBR2:38:12 12 Antonella Bizioli ITA2:38:52 13 Mercedes Calleja ESP2:38:58 14 Uta Pippig GDR2:39:30 15 Agnes Pardaens BEL2:39:52 16 Odette Lapierre CAN2:40:20 17 Paula Fudge GBR2:42:42 18 Genoveva Eichenmann SUI2:43:07 19 Maria Luisa Irizar ESP2:43:54 20 Emma Scaunich ITA2:44:32 21 Evy Palm SWE2:44:41 22 Veronique Marot GBR2:45:02 23 Gabriela Wolf FRG2:45:13 24 Christine Kennedy IRL2:45:47 25 Hazel Stewart NZL2:48:41 26 Eriko Asai JPN2:48:44 27 Marcianne Mukamurenzi RWA2:49:38 NR Rwandan 28 Rita Borralho POR2:52:26 29 Dorothy Goertzen CAN2:53:11 30 Cornelia Melis ARU2:59:31 31 Gina Coello HON3:01:53 NR Honduran 32 Maria del Pilar María del Pilar (athlete) GUA3:16:20 33 Julie Ogborn GUM3:50:56 34– Cathy Twomey USADNF Lisa Martin runner AUS Renata Kokowska POL Kim Jones athlete USA Maria Rebelo FRA Rita Marchisio ITA Monika Schäfer FRG Angélica de Almeida BRA Susan Stone athlete CAN See also 1984 Women's Olympic Marathon (Los Angeles) 1986 Women's European Championships Marathon (Stuttgart) 1988 Women's Olympic Marathon (Seoul) 1990 Women's European Championships Marathon (Split) References M Category:Marathons at the World Athletics Championships Category:1987 marathons Category:Women's marathons Category:Marathons in Italy nl:IAAF wereldkampioenschap marathon 1987