Baldini To Run NYC Marathon
New York Lands Reigning Olympic
Marathon Gold Medalist

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Posted Tuesday, 19 September, 2006

New York,September 15,2006— Reigning 2004 Olympic Marathon champion and 2006 European Marathon champion Stefano Baldini of Italy will run the ING New York City Marathon 2006 on November 5, it was announced today by race director Mary Wittenberg, president and CEO of New York Road Runners. Baldini joins an exciting men’s field that already includes defending champion and marathon world record-holder Paul Tergat of Kenya and a trio of American standouts including 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi and Olympians Alan Culpepper and Dathan Ritzenhein.

“Baldini is our sport’s golden boy. He adds a glitter to an already star-studded field,” said Wittenberg. “Stefano is a big-time racer. He is exactly the type of athlete we love to have here in New York. Victories are what matter to Stefano. You can count on seeing him in the thick of it.”

Baldini, 35, is considered one of the sport’s all-time greats. His list of global honors includes a gold-medal performance at the 1996 IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships and two bronze-medal finishes in the IAAF World Championships Marathon in 2001 and 2003.

This will be Baldini’s fourth appearance in the ING New York City Marathon. He placed third in 1997 with a time of 2:09:31 and was fifth in 2002 with a time of 2:09:12. He also ran in 1996, but did not finish the race. A victory for Baldini this year would mark the fifth time an Italian man has hoisted the first-place trophy at the New York City Marathon. Italians captured three consecutive
titles from 1984 to 1986, led by Orlando Pizzolato’s back-to-back victories in 1984 and 1985. Gianni Poli continued the streak in 1986, while Giacomo Leone became the most recent Italian man to win New York in 1996. Franca Fiacconi of Italy won the women’s title in 1998.

“I am very excited to participate in the ING New York City Marathon 2006 as the Olympic and European champion,” said Baldini. “I am always looking for a challenge and New York will provide that this year as most of the big names will be there. It is also a marathon with a big Italian tradition, so I hope to be in my best form for the first Sunday in November, because I want to confirm myself as a top marathon runner.”

At the Flora London Marathon this past April, Baldini set a personal best and an Italian marathon record (2:07:22) on his way to a fifth-place finish and a spot on the World Marathon Majors series leaderboard. Since then, he has won five races including the European Championships Marathon (2:11:32) on August 13 in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was his second European title in the marathon. He won his first crown in 1998.

Since his Olympic victory in Athens, Baldini has become a major celebrity in his homeland thanks to newspaper headlines that documented his win and frequent appearances on Italian television and radio. In addition to the 2004 Olympics, he also competed in the 1996 and 2000 Games. Baldini was the recipient of the 2004 Abebe Bikila Award, which is presented annually by New York Road Runners to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of distance running.

For more information visit www.nyrr.org.

World Marathon Majors
The ING New York City Marathon is one of five events in the World Marathon Majors series that showcases the sport’s top athletes and awards an unprecedented $1 million champion’s prize. The WMM series also includes the Boston Marathon, the Flora London Marathon, the real,- Berlin Marathon, and the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

For more information visit www.worldmarathonmajors.com.

Related info:
Katie McGregor and Peter Gilmore coming to ING NYC Marathon

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