Ethiopia's Derartu winning the 10k
(JT) The two-time Olympic Champion Ethiopian Derartu Tulu made a spectacular finish to win the 2009 New York City Marathon on Sunday afteroon. She finished the race in 2 hours 28 minutes and 52 seconds. The great Briton Paula Radcliffe was the favorite to win the marathon but fell back to fourth place three quarters into the race.
The legendary Derartu Tulu is one of the greatest woman distance runners in history and the first African woman to win Olympic gold when she finished first in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. She was also voted as the sixth greatest Ethiopian athlete in history. Derartu has excelled in all competitions on the track, road and crosscountry.
However, no one expected Derartu to defeat the great Paula Radcliffe. Paula has won the marathon several times and holds four of the top ten world times in the marathon. She led most of the race on Sunday but could not keep her pace near the end. When she fell back, Derartu tried to encourage her old rival Paula to push forward.
The 37 year old Derartu and the 35 years old Paula have met before on the track where Derartu dominated for years. Derartu's switch towards the marathon could bring problems for the Briton. Derartu have won over Paula two times before in the shorter 10,000m. Overtime Paula switched over to the Marathon.
The Russian Ludmila Petrova was the runner-up for the second straight year on Sunday and Christelle Daunay of France finished third.
The Arsi-Oromia native Derartu is one of the many Ethiopian athletes born in Bekoji town, which include the multi-Olympic champions Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba.
In the men's marathon, the Eritrea-born American Meb Keflezighi won the race on Sunday. Ethiopia's Haile GebreSelassie holds the world record for the marathon.
- Derartu ranked 6th best athlete in Ethiopian history
