Vladimir Kotov of Belarus out-sprinted Konstantin Permintin of Russia in a final lap around the Taipei City Hall to break the tape at the 2001 Taipei International Marathon yesterday.
Kotov finished in a time of two hours, 21 minutes and 37 seconds, nine second faster than Permintin.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"I'm happy because I'm a three-time winner," said Kotov, who also won in Taipei in 1998 and 1999.
"I asked Konstantin before the race that we change the lead each kilometer to protect us from the strong wind. He agreed," said the 46-year-old Kotov. "With 400m to go I made my move and he did not respond. I was surprised and kept looking back for him."
Kotov said he was not discouraged by his relatively slow time.
"Today I ran only for the win. It was humid and I have another marathon on Nov. 25 in Bangkok," he said, referring to his attempt to defend his title at the Bangkok Marathon.
Taiwan's Wu Wen-yuen (
The 23-year-old Taipei resident continued the form that saw him win four gold medals at last month's Taiwan National Games, in the 1,500m, the 5,000m, the 3,000m steeplechase and the marathon.
The women's race followed a similar pattern to the men with Russian Larissa Zousko pulling away from Violette Uryga of Poland in the final kilometers to win.
Zousko, in her first marathon since giving birth in August last year, edged the Pole by 27 seconds, in a time of 2:31.06. Taiwan's top female finisher was Chen Shu-hua in a time of 2:57:29.
Both Zousko and Kotov earned NT$100,000 for their wins.
The race was the first attempt since 1989 to stage a marathon on Taipei's city streets, and the first ever to venture outside the city core, including a loop through Tashih and Neihu.
Recent Taipei marathons had been staged off Chungshan Freeway.
Over 10,000 people turned out to participate in the marathon, and races over 19.6km, 11km, and 3km.
Kotov said that he enjoyed the new course and race organization.
"It was a good road today. Super. No problems. Every time we were given directions on the course, there was no problem," he said.
While the front-runners did not encounter traffic problems, those behind found that there were many more frustrated and impatient motorists and motorcyclists than cheering fans along the route.
The 625 police officers deployed to block intersections at times found themselves pitted between angry motorists and runners, at times unwilling or unable to prevent traffic from crossing the route during pre-arranged intervals.
Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who led the effort to create the new course, responded favorably to an inquiry whether the race would be able to remain on the city streets in the future.
"I hope so," said Ma after completing the 19.6km race in 1:57.11. "I think that [the local reaction] was very enthusiastic."
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB