Stefano Baldini (born 25 May 1971 in Castelnovo di Sotto, Emilia-Romagna, Italy) is a retired Italian runner who specialized in the marathon. He was the Olympic champion in Athens in 2004 and was twice European champion (1998 and 2006). Baldini was also a world champion in the half marathon, taking the title in Palma de…
Mizuki Noguchi (野口 みずき, Noguchi Mizuki, born July 3, 1978) is a Japanese professional long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon event. She is an Olympic champion over the distance. Initially starting out as a track and cross country athlete, her first major success was becoming the Asian cross country champion at age 21. She…
Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima (born 4 July 1969) is a Brazilian retired long-distance runner. He was born in Cruzeiro do Oeste, Paraná. While leading the marathon after 35 km (22 mi) at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was attacked on the course by Irish former priest Cornelius “Neil” Horan. Following the incident, Lima fell from first to…
Naoko Takahashi (高橋 尚子, Takahashi Naoko, born May 6, 1972) is a retired Japanese long-distance runner and Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner. She won the gold medal in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and at the 2001 Berlin Marathon she became the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2 hours and 20…
Yuko Arimori (有森 裕子, Arimori Yūko, born December 17, 1966, in Okayama) is a Japanese professional marathon runner and a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Arimori competed for Japan in the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain in the marathon where she won the silver medal with a time of…
Rosa Maria Correia dos Santos Mota, GCIH, GCM (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʁɔzɐ ˈmɔtɐ]; 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 multiple Olympic marathon medals as well as being the only…
Ronald Hill MBE (25 September 1938 – 23 May 2021) was a British runner and clothing entrepreneur. He was the second man to break 2:10 in the marathon; he set world records at four other distances, and laid claim to the marathon world record. He ran two Olympic Marathons (Tokyo 1964 and Munich 1972), and…
Emil Zátopek (19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final medal came when he decided at the last minute to compete in the…
Franziska Rochat-Moser (17 August 1966 Crissier, Switzerland – 7 March 2002 Les Diablerets, Vaud) was a long-distance runner from Switzerland, who represented her native country at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992. She won the 1997 New York City Marathon. Moser was a lawyer by profession and married to Philippe Rochat, renowned chef and…
