Posted: August 13, 2005

Athletics: Gharib Defends World Marathon Title

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

HELSINKI (13-Aug) -- Moroccan Jaoud Gharib brought home his second consecutive marathon world title here today, joining Spaniard Abel Anton as the only other man to ever win two world championships marathon gold medals. Running in high humidity, steady winds and sometimes strong sunshine on a challenging criterium course, Gharib was timed in 2:10:10, just seven seconds slower than Australian Rob De Castella when he won the first-ever world championships marathon title here in 1983. Christopher Isegwe of Tanzania was a surprise silver medalist 11 seconds behind, and Tsuyoshi Ogata of Japan got the bronze in 2:11:16.

"I was very happy to become the second athlete in the world to get the title for the second time," said Gharib after the race through a translator.

Gharib, 33, did the hardest training of his career for this race. Despite the fact that he ran a swift 2:07:49 at London last April for second place, he shed 2 kg (about 4.5 pounds) in advance of these championships. His manager, Gianni Demadonna, told RRW yesterday that he was afraid that the weight loss may be a signal that he had overdone his training.

But there was little evidence of that when Gharib surged up the steepest hill on the 10 km loop in the 29th kilometer and dropped everyone but reigning Olympic champion, Stefano Baldini of Italy.

"It was in my mind that 12 kilometers from the stadium I would make an acceleration," said Gharib who will also run the ING New York City Marathon in November.

The pair ran together through the 30-K mark, and less than a minute later, Gharib pushed up another hill, and this time he was able to open up a gap on the Italian. Baldini was beginning to struggle, and had been passed by Gudisa Shentama of Ethiopia. By 33-K, one hour and 41 minutes into the race, Baldini was forced to stop and was stretching his leg by the side of the road.

"I hurt my right hamstring," said the always polite Baldini after the race. Although he started running again after stretching, he was forced to drop out before 40-K leaving Gezahegne Abera of Ethiopia as the only man to win an Olympic marathon title and come back to the next year to win a world championship.

Gharib, despite some stomach discomfort and a singlet which had become so soaked with sweat he was forced to constantly wring it out, had built a 22 second lead over a small chase group of Samson Ramadhani and Isegwe of Tanzania, Ogata of Japan, and Gashaw Melese of Ethiopia. Isegwe, who had done a lot of the early leading in the race, needed to make up eight seconds to get into second place. He was running fifth at 35-K, but was feeling strong.

"When I managed to go past him (Ogota) he would not get past me again," said Isegwe through a translator. Earlier, when he was dropped by the main pack he said he was not worried. "Eventually, I made it to overtake most of them," he said.

By 40-K, the medals had been sorted out. Despite slowing down, Gharib's lead was still 21 seconds and Isegwe was 30 seconds ahead of Ogata, who was just protecting his position now.

"I'm very happy with a medal," said the tiny Japanese through translator Ken Nakamura,"the first time in six years for the Japanese men."

Brian Sell was the top American today, finishing a creditable ninth by running a smart race from behind. He was 53rd at 5-K, 39th at the half-way mark (1:05:42), 22nd by 30-K and tenth by 40-K. His time of 2:13:27 was the fastest-ever by an American at a world championship, even better than what medal winners Mark Plaatjes (2:13:57, gold, 1993) and Steve Spence (2:15:36, bronze, 1991) had achieved.

"We went out in what felt nice and easy," Sell observed with a smile. "We started to pick guys off."

Indeed, he passed 46 runners by the time he entered Olympic Stadium.

In the World Cup competition, where teams scored their best three athletes on total time, the Japanese were easy winners in 6:38:39, with Kenya second (6:46:38) and Ethiopia third (6:52:14). The Americans were a surprising fourth, just 1:41 behind the Ethiopians.