Paralympic marathoners conclude athletic competition with five records
17/9/2008 17:28
The defending champion Australian Kurt Fearnley could have lost his title
in men's Paralympic marathon this morning when he and Japan's Sasahara Hiroki
rushed to the finish and crossed the line both in one hour, 23 minutes and 17
seconds.
It was such a close game of men's marathon T54 (athletes with normal
upper limb but partial to normal trunk function) finished in the National
Stadium at the Beijing Paralympic Games that Fearnley's gold medal had to be
decided by more precise measurement.
Fearnley set a new Paralympic record of
his classification which is even 43 minutes faster than Samuel Kamau Wansiru of
Kenya, the marathon gold medallist at the Beijing Olympics.
Following the top
two wheelchaired athletes, Ernst van Dyk from South Africa won the bronze at the
42.195-kilometer race started at Tian'anmen Square and followed the same route
of the Beijing Olympic marathon which winds across several districts and two
universities.
"In the leading pack, there were six Japanese guys. I just told
myself, keep holding on into the stadium, keep doing what I've done in the
past," said the 27-year-old Australian.
As the only event held outside of the
stadium known as Bird's Nest, the Paralympic marathon attracted thousands of
Beijing local spectators who watched along the route and brought inspirations to
more people, the best interpretation of the concept of Beijing Paralympics:
Transcendence, Integration and Equality.
"It was fantastic, the open roads
and course design. It's an incredibly job they have done in the past two weeks.
Beijing should be proud that they have held such a great Paralympic Games,"
Fearnley said.
In the T52 classification (wheelchaired athletes with normal
shoulder, elbow and wrist function but no trunk or leg function), Australia's
Thomas Geierspichler set a new world record of the class with 1:40:07 to win the
gold medal.
"I didn't realize I could be the gold medallist. It is a
fantastic feeling. You know you can not win gold medal every day. I've been
dreamed about this moment in my whole life," said Geierspichler.
Mexico's
Mario Santillan had the stadium to himself as he crossed the line in a world
record of 2:27:04 in T46 (ambulant athletes with amputations) who was followed
by Brazilian Tito Sena who won the silver medal in 2:30:49 and bronze medalist
Walter endrizzi from Italy in 2:32:51.
In T12 (athletes with visual
impairment), China's Qi Shun had the crowd on their feet cheering, as he picked
up the gold in 2:30:32 to set a new world record of the classification.
In
the only classification of women's Marathon, T54, Swiss Edith Hunkeler broke
away from the pack in a congested final lap. The 36-year-old who just won a
bronze in 1,500m yesterday evening finished in 1:39:59 to set a Paralympic
record.
Amanda McGrory of the USA finished in 1:40:00 to secure the silver,
ahead of bronze medallist Swiss Sandra Graf in 1:40:01. McGrory had won one
gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the Beijing Paralympics.
The
reigning world record holder Francesca Porcellato of Italy finished ninth with a
result of 1:54:27.
Xinhua
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