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Asian Games: China's Zhou blows away field to claim marathon gold
2006-12-10
China's Zhou Chunxiu led from start to finish to win the gold in the women's marathon at the Asian Games on Saturday, while Kiyoko Shimahara and Kayoko Obata came in almost together to take the silver and bronze medals for Japan. Zhou set a killer pace from the outset and never looked back before crossing the line in 2 hours, 27 minutes, 3 seconds on the 42.195-kilometer course, which loops four times around the Doha Corniche, the pine-tree lined waterfront in the heart of the Qatari capital. "I felt physically good today. But I'm not satisfied with my time because I know I can run about six or seven minutes faster," said Zhou, who finished fifth at the 2005 world championships in 2:24:12 and has a personal best time of 2:19:51. "I had trained hard for the Asian Games for the past three months so I was confident." Shimahara came second in 2:30:34 followed by Obata in 2:30:38, while North Korea's Jo Pun Hui settled for fourth place, nearly 15 minutes off the pace with a time of 2:42:34. "It's unfortunate that I couldn't race against the gold medalist," Shimahara said. "There was a big difference between me and the leader today. The course is very monotonous and the wind was a little difficult today. I'll need to train harder and aim even higher." The 35-year-old Obata said, "This was a disappointing race for me because I was never in a race for the title." In the field of just 10 athletes, Zhou took a lead over Shimahara and Obata of 1:30 by the 10-km mark and extended the gap by more than 3 minutes after 20 km. The 28-year-old Zhou increased her lead with every stride, moving over five minutes ahead at one point against the Japanese pair who ran together in a battle for silver and bronze throughout the race. Zhou was worlds apart from her nearest competitors and had the gold medal well in the bag after two hours. The race got under way in clear conditions with a temperature of 23 C and winds from the northwest traveling over the Gulf at 28 kilometers per hour. Maria Pia Nehme of Lebanon retired from the race around the 20-km mark.
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