Suuto falls short of national target

By Norman Katende in London

Uganda’s long-distance runner Jane Suuto has failed to beat the national record she had set her eyes on after finishing 93^rd in the London women’s marathon Sunday.

Her target was to run below two hours 20 minutes but she fell short of her expectations with a finish time of 2:44.46.

Ethiopia's Tiki Gelana held off Kenyan Priscah Jeptoo to win gold in a soggy Olympic women's marathon that started and finished in torrential rain on Sunday.

Gelana clocked two hours 23 minutes and seven seconds in a course taking in numerous iconic London landmarks, finishing five seconds ahead of Jeptoo who was unable to reel in her African rival in the finishing straight on The Mall.

Russian Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova won bronze in 2:23.29. Race favourite Mary Keitany of Kenya, twice a London marathon winner, finished fourth after dropping off the leading group in the final three kilometres.

Gelana, 24, was the second Ethiopian woman to win Olympic marathon gold following Fatuma Roba's triumph in 1996 in Atlanta.

When 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.

On Sunday, Suuto was lined up against the best of the best in the 42.198km road race in London.

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

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

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

 “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 said from the Games Village before the marathon.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Kizza and Reuters)