Suuto looks to break Ugandan record

By Norman Katende 

Today

Women's Marathon - 1.00pm

Start List

When Jane Suuto qualified for last year’s World Championships in Daegu, Korea, it was a dream come true for her after over eight years of battling to compete among the world’s best.

That dream came to pass a fortnight to the event after she was told that although she had run inside the qualifying time, the competition in which she set the time was not among those certified by the World International Athletics Federation.

This meant her time could not be recognized and so went down the drain.

However today, the dream will be achieved when she lines up against the best of the best in the 42.198km road race in London.

Suuto qualified for the 2012 London Olympics after clocking 2 hours 42 minutes and 7seconds at the Nordea Riga Marathon in Lativia.

She finished third overall in the 42km road race behind Russia’s Iraida Aleksandrova who crossed the finishing line with 2:37:37 and Kenyan Miriam Wangari (2:41.13) in a tightly contested race.

Now, her target is to become the first female Ugandan long-distance racer to run below 2 hours 20 minutes.

“Most of the athletes are the ones that we have been running with in different competitions, but this is Olympics,” says the marathoner.

 “I will not promise a medal but I will go out there to offer my best and whatever God offers me. I will take it with both hands.”

Her season best time is 2:42:08, which she posted in the Nordea Riga Marathon in Latvia when she ran inside the qualifying time.

She holds the national record that stands at 2:37:43, which is over two minutes off the world record.

“It is not about the time but preparations, and I have prepared well for the Games.  I will go out there and fight,” she says from the Games Village.