RAMAALA AIMING FOR FIFTH OLYMPIC GAMES APPEARANCE AFTER MARATHON QUALIFIER IN DUBAI -By David Martin
Other contenders for Olympic vests Coolboy Ngamole clocked 2:10:43 in Valencia the previous month and Lusapho April recorded 2:11:09 at the Frankfurt Marathon in October.
Three-time Bupa Great North Run champion Hendrick Ramaala knows he still faces a stiff challenge if he is to qualify for his fifth Olympic Games appearance in London this summer. ©Victah Sailer
Three-time Bupa Great North Run champion Hendrick Ramaala knows he still faces a stiff challenge if he is to qualify for his fifth Olympic Games appearance in London this summer.
Ramaala winner of the world's biggest half marathon race from Newcastle to South Shields in 1997 then 2003 and 2006 easily gained the Olympic marathon qualifying standard of two hours 15 minutes in the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon last Friday.
The former two-time IAAF World half marathon silver medallist clocked a time of 2:12:12 in the Middle East's biggest marathon event but is well aware he needs to run faster if he is to claim one of the three positions in the South African team.
Already ahead of him in the country's national rankings are Stephen Mokoka - a runner up behind Briton Mo Farah with a South African record in the 2009 Bupa Great South Run - who ran 2:10:29 in Shanghai last December.
Other contenders for Olympic vests Coolboy Ngamole clocked 2:10:43 in Valencia the previous month and Lusapho April recorded 2:11:09 at the Frankfurt Marathon in October.
Now Ramaala the former New York Marathon champion who will celebrate his 40th birthday on Thursday will be looking for a spring marathon to better those performances as he bids to become the nation's first ever athlete to notch up what will also be a record fifth consecutive Olympic appearance.
Ramaala's made his debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta where he was eliminated in his 10000 metres heat, four year's later in Sydney he finished 12th in the marathon, 2004 saw him drop out of the endurance race in Athens while at the next in Beijing he was 44th over the distance.
Nevertheless epitomising the importance of the spirit of taking part in Olympic Games is one of its most vital objectives, he will be determined to be part yet again of the World's greatest sporting occasion.
David Martin
More articles
