by Larry Eder
Dita in lead, 2008 Beijing, 30km, photo by PhotoRun.net
The London 2012 Olympic marathon will be held, for women on 5 August 2012. Constantina Dita, the 2008 champion, will be there, asking for no concessions. Just, underestimate Constantina at your peril..Dita is one of the toughest marathoners on the circuit, and at the age of 42, has a few surprises still in those racing flats…
Olympic Marathon Champ Constantina Dita Wraps up Main Training, Flies to London Tonight
July 18, 2012 (For immediate use)
Reigning Olympic Marathon champion Constantina Dita completed her final hard training
session this morning in her US hometown of Erie, Colorado… a set of repeat 2,000m
intervals… and will fly out on this evening’s British Airways Denver/London flight to
compete in her third Olympic Games.
In Beijing four years ago, the long-time Colorado/USA resident broke away from the field
from the 20-kilometer point to win in 2:26:44, including a brilliant 71:33 split for the
second half of the race to become the Olympic champion at age 38. This time around, the
Olympic marathon falls on the date Dita will be 42 years 195 days old, a golden date for
an athlete challenging the 42.195 kilometer distance.
Dita, 2008 Beijing Flag, photo by PhotoRun.net
This will be Dita’s 11th marathon in London, following her ten consecutive appearances
at the Flora/Virgin London Marathon from 2003 through this Spring, three times achieving
the top three podium. “London is really special for me, and Dave Bedford and the whole
London Marathon staff have been great to me over the years, including a very nice
celebration they made for me right after I won the gold medal in 2008. I am looking
forward to running in front of all the British fans again next month.”
Dita, 2008 Beijing, Medal, photo by PhotoRun.net
Dita, who has been sponsored by ASICS for the past ten years, commented last night,
“Overall my training has gone really well. Of course there have been a few days when
I really feel I am 42 years old! But just last week I did my final long run, a 25 km
workout up in Nederland. I was surprised that I was running 25K faster up there at
8,400 feet than I have done some of my 25K workouts here in Erie, which is much lower
altitude.”
“For me, I am hoping to run well, and I will do my best. I will fly with my sister
Irina, who has helped my training here the past two months. We will stay at a hotel
near Hyde Park until I move into the Olympic Village just before the women’s marathon.
My son Rafael [who is a student at Erie High School] is hoping to get a tryout with
the Rapids next week, so he will fly over to London just a few days before my race.”
Although in London Dita will represent her native Romania, from January last year she
became a US citizen. “I was so proud and excited to take the citizenship oath. I’ve
been living in Colorado for ten years now. The organizers there also made a nice
announcement to everybody about me being the Olympic champion, but for all of us
who became Americans that day, it was really special.”
Dita is one of seven athletes represented by Boulder Wave who will race in the women’s
Olympic Marathon. Women assisted by Brendan Reilly and Boulder Wave have won the past
three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the marathon, and the run of Olympic marathon
medals is four straight going back to Yuko Arimori’s bronze medal in Atlanta in 1996.
The group this time also includes reigning marathon world champion Edna Kiplagat of
Kenya; 2009 world championships silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki of Japan; and 2000
Sydney Olympic si
lver medalist Lidia Simon of Boulder, who will become the first
lver medalist Lidia Simon of Boulder, who will become the first
woman to have competed in five Olympic marathons.
Reilly comments, “The depth of the field is incredible, with eight or nine sub-2:20
women in the field, and also another half-dozen women who can be very dangerous if
the race comes down to a 5km kick at the end. I told our women that it is perfectly
within their grasp to come away with at least one of the medals, with three,
possibly four, of our women in the top ten. Everybody has trained very well
and they are supported by some very devoted and tireless coaches.”
The women’s Olympic Marathon will be on a loop course starting and finishing
on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. The race start is 11:00 a.m. on
August 5th, 4:00 a.m. Colorado time.
