The women's marathon was one of the road events at the

1987 World Championships in Athletics The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987. Men's results Track 1983 , 1987 ...

in Rome, Italy. It took place on 29 August 1987; the course started and finished at the Stadio Olimpico and passed several of Rome's historic landmarks. The race was won by Portugal's

Rosa Mota Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM (; born 29 June 1958) is a Portuguese former marathon runner, one of her country's foremost athletes, being the first sportswoman from Portugal to win Olympic gold. Mota was the first woman to win m ...

in 2:25:17, a new championship record, ahead of Zoya Ivanova of the Soviet Union in second and France's Jocelyne Villeton in third. In warm conditions, the pre-race favourite, Mota, led from the start. Another of the runners expected to do well, Australia's Lisa Martin, was suffering from fatigue after working too hard in training, and she pulled out of the race after . Mota won the race by almost seven and a half minutes, but did not initially realise that she had finished the race, as she thought she still had to run another lap of the track in the stadium.

Background

The race started and finished at the Stadio Olimpico, and largely stayed within the area of central Rome enclosed by the Aurelian Walls. It skirted around the lower edges of three of the

seven hills of Rome The seven hills of Rome ( la, Septem colles/montes Romae, it, Sette colli di Roma ) east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the city. Hills The seven hills are: * Aventine Hill (Latin: ''Collis Aventi ...

without climbing any of them, and passed several ancient landmarks, including the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world t ...

, the

Baths of Caracalla , alternate_name = it, Terme di Caracalla , image = File:Baths of Caracalla, facing Caldarium.jpg , caption = The baths as viewed from the south-west. The caldarium would have been in the front of the image , coordinates = ...

and

St. Peter's Square Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood ( rione) of Borgo. B ...

. Part of the course ran along

cobbled Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fr ...

streets, which along with the warm temperatures forecast, led to expectations that there would not be fast times in the race. Several of the world's quickest female marathoners were absent from the race.

Ingrid Kristiansen Ingrid Kristiansen (née Christensen on 21 March 1956) is a Norwegian former athlete. She was one of the best female long-distance runners during the 1980s. She is a former world record holder in the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres and the marathon ...

, who was the world record holder, having run the

1985 London Marathon The 1985 London Marathon was the fifth running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on Sunday, 21 April. The elite men's race was won by home athlete Steve Jones (runner), Steve Jones in a time of 2:08:16 hours an ...

in 2:21:06, opted to run the 10,000 metres instead.

Joan Benoit Joan Benoit Samuelson (born May 16, 1957) is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woma ...

, the

Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

, was also missing, as she was pregnant.

Grete Waitz Grete Waitz (, 1 October 195319 April 2011) was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, at the New York City Marathon, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. Waitz wo ...

, the reigning world champion suffered a suspected stress fracture in her foot after running a 5,000-metre time-trial on 15 August, and although she travelled to Rome and considered running with painkillers, she decided not to take the risk, and withdrew. In their absence, the favourites were

of Portugal and Australia's Lisa Martin. Mota was a two-time European champion, and the third quickest female marathoner, while Martin had run the fifth fastest women's marathon time. Both came into the Championships in less than ideal situations: Mota had been suffering from a

urinary tract infection A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects part of the urinary tract. When it affects the lower urinary tract it is known as a bladder infection (cystitis) and when it affects the upper urinary tract it is known as a kidne ...

, while training in Florida, Martin had overtrained in hot conditions.

Summary

The race started at 16:55 local time on 29 August 1987, the opening day of the Championships, in temperatures of around . Mota took the lead before the marathon left the stadium, and extended it as the race progressed. She completed the first half of the marathon in 1:12:10, and won by over seven minutes. When she crossed the finish line, in 2:25:17, she continued running, as she thought she had another lap to complete. It was only when a race official flagged her down into her second lap, telling her that she had finished, that she stopped. She blamed her mistake on the instructions she had received before the race: "an official told me I had to take two loops of the track". Mota's time was a new championship record, beating the 2:28:09 set by Grete Waitz at the 1983 marathon. Martin, who was expected to be the most likely to challenge Mota in the race withdrew after ; she was falling back down the field, and her whole body felt sore. She blamed it residual fatigue from the problems she had suffered during training in Florida. Martin was one of nine runners to pull out of the race. Zoya Ivanova of the Soviet Union finished in second, in 2:32:38, while France's Jocelyne Villeton claimed bronze, in 2:32:53.

Aftermath

At the 1988 Olympics, Mota beat Martin by 13 seconds and became the only woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion simultaneously.

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1987 World Championships In Athletics - Women's Marathon M Marathons at the World Athletics Championships 1987 marathons Women's marathons World Championships in Athletics marathon Women in Rome Women's sport in Italy nl:IAAF wereldkampioenschap marathon 1987

Background

Summary

Aftermath

Results

See also

References