FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Second World Record Holder Eyes Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon
Dubai (UAE): Holland's multi-world record holder Lornah Kiplagat has set
her sights on the world's richest race following her confirmation that she
will make her Dubai debut at the 2008 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on
January 18.
The Kenyan-born star – a Dutch citizen since 2003 – is the second world
record holder to be added to the US$ 1,000,000 race, which also offers a
further US$1,000,000 bonus for a new marathon world record. She will join
Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie in a field that is coming together as
the strongest ever seen in the region.
Like Gebrselassie, Kiplagat was nominated for the 2007 World Athlete of the
Year award and is in scintillating form after an early summer calf injury
kept her out of the World Athletics Championships in Osaka.
Last month, she broke the world record for both the 20km and Half Marathon
with a stunning performance at the 2nd IAAF World Road Running
Championships in Udine, Italy. Competing for only the second time since
picking up that injury, the 33-year-old defending champion shattered her
own 20km record by 24 seconds with a time of 1h:02m:57s, before storming
through the last kilometre to claim gold and a new Half Marathon world
record in a time of 1h:06m:25s.
That sliced a huge 19 seconds from the previous IAAF World record of
1h:06m:44s, which South Africa's Elana Meyer set eight years ago with
victory in Tokyo.
"When we announced the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon was being taken to
the next level thanks to the support of Dubai Holding, our aim was to
attract the very cream of long distance running," said event director Peter
Connerton.
"With Haile and Lornah in the line-up, we have two runners with over 30
world records and six Marathon golds to their names - and we're looking to
add even more top names to the field in the coming weeks."
A tall, leggy runner and role model to young Kenyan women athletes,
Kiplagat also won the World Cross Country title in March on "home"
territory in Mombassa, to capture another gold medal for her adopted nation
of Holland, which she has represented since marrying husband/coach Pieter
Langerhorst.
"In Kenya for years, people didn't believe women could run so well," she
said. "Look at the development now. In Osaka the women got as many
headlines as the men. In Udine, I won the race in a Dutch vest with two
Kenyan girls next to me - that's the development of Kenyan women's running
for me."
Held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice
President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, and staged under
the aegis of the Dubai Sports Council, the 2008 Standard Chartered Dubai
Marathon is the richest race ever seen in athletics with a potential
US$ 2,000,000 prize-fund provided courtesy of Dubai Holding.
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