Swiss marathon runner Viktor Röthlin finished the Olympic marathon in Beijing in 2:10:35, only 35 seconds behind bronze medallist Tsegay Kebede from Ethiopia. Viktor was the fastest runner of non-African origin.
The fast paced race was dominated by Kenya’s 21-year-old Samuel Wansiru who finished in 2:06:32. Samuel won the first Olympic gold medal in the marathon for Kenya. It was in 1960 in Rome that the first African won an Olympic gold medal: Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia, the Barefoot Runner.
- Samuel Wansiru (Kenya) 2:06:32
- Jaouad Gharib (Morocco) 2:07:16
- Tsegay Kebede (Ethiopia) 2:10:00
- Deriba Merga (Ethiopia) 2:10:20
- Martin Lel (Kenya) 2:10:24
- Viktor Röthlin (Switzerland) 2:10:35
Filed under: Culture, People | Tags: Abebe Bikila, Ethiopia, Olympia, Onni Niskanen
After two weeks vacation in Sardinia, it’s quite hard to get it running again… On the beach, I read an interesting book about the life of the marathon runner Abebe Bikila: “Barefoot Runner” by Paul Rambali.
Abebe Bikila was born 1932 in Ethiopia. He was spotted by Onni Niskanen, a Finn hired by the Ethiopian government to train potential athletes. He joined the Ethiopian athletic team only in the last moment to participate in the 1960 Olympic summer games in Rome. In a fascinating race, he won the Olympic marathon in a time of 2:15:16 running barefoot, as no pair of shoes fit him. He was the first black African athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.
Shortly after returning to Addis Abeba in Ethiopia, he was sentenced to death. Bikila, who didn’t understand politics, had been forced to take part in a coup. The coup attempt failed and Bikila was pardoned by the Emperor Haile Selassie.
He repeated his marathon triumph in the 1964 summer Olympic games in Tokyo in a new record time of 2:12:11 – notably only 4 weeks after an operation because of appendicitis.
In 1969, he suffered a car accident which left him quadriplegic. He subsequently participated in archery competitions. He died in 1973.
The book tells the fascinating story of an outstanding athlete. Moreover, it gives interesting insights into the evolution of Ethiopian runners who now dominate running.
I was also fascinated by Onni Niskanen, the coach of Abebe Bikila. He contributed a lot to the success of the Ethiopian runners, and he set the base for their success which goes on until today.
Onni Niskanen (on the right), the coach of Abebe Bikila, in 1976 in Uppsala, Sweden. On the left sits his brother Arne. © Photo courtesy of Pia Haldin.
Filed under: People | Tags: asthma, china, Haile Gebrselassie, marathon, Paula Radcliffe
Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie will not participate in the Olympic marathon competition in China in August. He’s suffering from asthma. Because of air pollution in Bejing, he will instead participate in the shorter 10′000 m race.
Many Olympic athletes suffer from exercise-induced asthma, e.g Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe, the women’s world record holder in the marathon. Twelve percent of United States Olympians suffer from asthma. Inhaled asthma drugs, according to medical consensus, allow athletes with asthma to breathe normally but do not make them better than normal. And they do nothing for athletes who do not have asthma. Athletes with documented proof that they have asthma are allowed to take certain inhaled corticosteroids and beta-2 agonists. Childhood asthma rates have quadrupled since the 1970s.
Some Olympic athletes will be walking around Beijing wearing face masks. These masks reduce the level of dust and fine particulates that get into the airways. However, gases like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone are not filtered.
Paula Radcliffe is also famous for an unscheduled toilet stop during the 2005 London Marathon.
Filed under: People, Training | Tags: cycling, lactate threshold, Lance Armstrong, marathon, oxygen uptake, physiology, VO2max
In November 2007, Lance Armstrong finished his second marathon in New York in 2:46:43 hours. He improved his time by 13 minutes. In 2006, he had run the NY Marathon in 2:59:36 hours – where he suffered a stress fracture. This year, he finished his third marathon in Boston in 2:50:58 hours.
It’s interesting to see what an athlete with an extremely high oxygen uptake capacity achieves in running. Maximal oxygen uptake is – among other factors – a determinant of performance which in the case of Lance as a cyclist was extraordinary! Think of his Tour de France triumphs… However, running strains the joints, ligaments and bones differently than cycling. All the weight lasts on the legs and feet. Therefore also intersting: his weight is 78 kg and his height 178 cm. So Lance is not quite meager, his BMI is well above the top-runner’s range: 24.6!
He was serially tested over 8 years from the age of 21 years by the physiologist Edward F. Coyle at The University of Texas at Austin. Lance’s maximal heart rate at the age of 28 years was still around 200/min. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) was as high as 72 to 80 ml/min/kg, and his lactate threshold was 78% of maximal oxygen uptake! The original scientific publication appeared in the J Appl Physiol 2005.
I think there are some interesting points to learn from him:
- VO2max is not the best indicator of running performance as it does not include running efficiency
- adequate preparation is mandatory, especially for joints and bones
These are the current world records over various distances:
| Distance | Time | Athlete |
| 1′000 m | 2:11 min | Noah Ngeny, Kenya |
| 5′000 m | 12:37 min | Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia |
| 10′000 m | 26:17 min | Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia |
| Half Marathon | 58:33 min | Samuel Wanjiru, Kenya |
| Marathon | 2:04:26 h | Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopia |
Haile Gebrselassie (born 1972) was also the former holder of the 5′000 m and 10′000 m world records. His reputation ranks alongside Finnland’s Paavo Nurmi (1887-1973) or the Czech Emile Zatopek (1922-2000).
All the world records are available at IAAF.
