Last chance for more medals
2004-08-27 21:09
Athens - Kenyan Paul Tergat will take to the road as the favourite in the marathon on Saturday - a race in which Hendrick Ramaala, Ian Syster and Gert Thys will be South Africa's last medal opportunity.
Hills as well as the heat can play a decisive role in the race, but the South African athletes will take their inspiration from the performance by Josiah Thugwane back in 1996 in Atlanta.
It will be a major feat for the athlete who wins the race. Last Sunday the temperature rose to 39 degrees.
Syster practised with Tergat in Kenya for a period of seven weeks. He may be the most likely candidate to oust Tergat.
Syster has a time of 2:06:33 behind his name, while Tergat holds the world record of 2:04:55.
Ramaala is the slowest of the trio with a time of 2:08:58.
Should Tergat not be on form the danger men seem to be the Spanish and Japanese runners. Ethiopia and France, however, also have strong candidates, pointing to a remarkable race.