FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Past Champion, Olympic Medalist are first to register
for 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Women's Marathon
Boston, MA -- Two of America's preeminent female distance runners have
officially entered the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon,
officials from USA Track & Field and the Boston Athletic Association
announced Friday.
Deena Kastor (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) and Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, Colo.)
became the first women to announce their intent to compete in the U.S.
Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon in Boston on April 20, 2008, when
they submitted their entries this morning.
Kastor and De Reuck are in Boston this week to compete in the USA Women's
10 km Championship, hosted on Monday by the Tufts Health Plan 10K for
Women.
Kastor, 34, placed second in the 2004 Olympic Team Trials - Women's
Marathon, then won the bronze medal in the Athens Olympic Games, becoming
the first American to win a women's marathon medal since Joan Samuelson.
She has twice set the American Record in the marathon, first at the 2003
Flora London Marathon (2:21:16), then again at the 2006 Flora London
Marathon (2:19:36) where she became the first U.S. woman to break 2:20:00.
Kastor has recently one two major marathons, the 2005 LaSalle Bank Chicago
Marathon (2:21:25) and the 2006 Flora London Marathon.
De Reuck, 43, is a four-time Olympian and the defending champion of the
U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Women's Marathon. De Reuck competed in three
Olympic Games for her native South Africa, placing as high as ninth (in the
1992 Barcelona Games 10,000m), before becoming a U.S. citizen in 2000. She
captured the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon in St. Louis
with a time 2:28:40, the fastest winning time in Trials history. De Reuck
gave birth to her second daughter, Tara, on July 4.
To enter the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon, women must first
qualify. The event's "A" standard is 2:39:00, while the "B" standards are
2:47:00 in the marathon or 33:00.00 in the 10,000 meters. The qualifying
standards must be met from January 1, 2006 through March 23, 2008 or at the
2005 USA Marathon Championships (October 2, 2005). Currently 127 women have
qualified for the Trials, with 16 having met the "A" standard. Qualified
athletes may enter the race at www.usatf.org.
Additional information about the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's
Marathon can be found at www.bostontrials2008.com.
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