Posted: October 2, 2005

Athletics: Canadian women sixth in team event at IAAF Half Marathon World Championships

EDMONTON – Russian native and Toronto resident Loiudmila Kortchaguina led the Canadian women to a sixth-place team finish in the 14th annual IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Edmonton Saturday.

The near-freezing temperatures and medium altitude affected times by about one minute, but Kortchaguina, 34, said she was excited to be competing for her first national team.

“The race was really good. The course was a little tough, with the rain and cold,” said the Russian native, who finished 21st in a seasonal best time of 1:13:15 despite the steady rain and temperatures that reached 7 Celsius for the women’s afternoon race.

Nicole Stevenson of Toronto charged over the final kilometre to finish 28th in 1:14:26 to drop the Italian team to seventh. Each team’s placing was based on its top three runners, with Canada’s third runner being 33rd-place Tara Quinn-Smith of Waterdown, Ont., in 1:14:58.

“I’m very happy with the sixth place for the women because going into the race, based on personal bests and seasonal bests, we were ranked ninth,” said Canadian team head coach Martin Goulet.

Kortchaguina, who was second in last year’s Toronto Marathon, looks to improve on that placing in two weeks.

The other Canadian women were 39th-place Tina Connelly of Port Coquitlam, B.C., in 1:16:12, and 49th place Lisa Harvey of Calgary in 1:19:03.

The Romanians were led by winner Constantina Tomescu in 1:09:17 and fifth-place Mihaela Botsezan. The silver medal went to Kenyan-native Lorna Kiplagat, now running for the Netherlands, in 1:10:19, while the bronze medallist was Susan Chepkembi of Kenya in 1:10:20.

It was particularly cold weather for the Africans, but that didn’t stop the favourites from fighting to spectacular finishes in the fight for the men’s medals.

In one tight finish, Tanzanian runner Fabiano Joseph Naafi, twice the runner-up in this event, edged Mubarak Shawni of Qatar who had started to raise his arms to celebrate his win. Both men finished in a time of 1 hour 1 minute and 8 seconds, as Naasi won the first-prize money of $30,000 U.S.

A photo finish determined third place, as the bronze medal went to Yonas Kifle of Eritrea, to the delight of several partisan Edmonton residents who are former residents of the African country. Kifle’s time was 1:01:14 to edge Sileshi Sihine of Ethiopia whom many considered the race favorite.

The top placing for the Canadian men was Jeremy Deere of Calgary. He ran a seasonal best of 1:06:19 for 44th place as the Canadian team finished 11th overall.

Mark McInnes of Toronto was 47th in 1:06:28, Andrew Smith of Toronto 52nd in 1:07:23, Mark Bomba of Coquitlam, B.C., 66th and Ryan Day of Coquitlam 68th in the field of 86 starters.

Results:
Leading and Canadian times Saturday in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Edmonton

Men: 1. Fabiano Joseph Naasi , Tanzania, 1 hour 1 minute and 8 seconds; 2. Mubarak Hassan Shawni, Qatar, 1:01:09: 3. Yonas Kifle, Eritrea, 1:01:14; 4. Seleshi Shihine, Ethiopia, 1:01:14; 5. Negere Abebe Dinkessa, Ethiopia, 1:01:53; 44. Jeremy Deere, Calgary, 1:06:19; 47. Matthew McInnes, Toronto, 1:06:28; 52. Andrew Smith, Toronto, 1:07:23; 66. Mark Bomba, Port Coquitlam, B.C., 1:10:39; 68. Ryan Day, Coquitlam, B.C., 1:1:20.

Team placings: 1. Ethiopia; 2. Eritrea; 3. Japan; 11. Canada.

Women: 1. Constantina Tomescu, Romania, 1:09:17; 2. Lorna Kiplagat, Netherlands, 1:10:19; 3. Susan Chepkembi, Kenya, 1:10:20; 4. Galina Bogomolova, Russia, 1:10:34; 5. Mihaela Botezan, Romania, 1:10:36; 21. Loiudmila Kortchaguina, Toronto, 1:13:13; 28. Nicole Stevenson, Toronto, 1:14:26; 33. Tara Quinn-Smith, Waterdown, Ont., 1:14:58; 39. Tina Connelly, Port Coquitlam, B.C., 1:16:12; 49. Lisa Harvey, Calgary, 1:19:03.

Team placings: 1. Romania; 2. Russia; 3. Japan; 6. Canada.