Athletics: Naali willing to go the extra yards for glory
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Your support makes all the difference.Tanzania's Francis Robert Naali became the second member of his family to earn a Commonwealth marathon medal yesterday when he won the event 12 years after his late brother, Simon Robert, took the bronze in Auckland.
Naali's moment of triumph was marred, however, after officials failed to tell him he had completed the course. He continued wearily round the track on an unwitting lap of honour that involved negotiating stacks of hurdles being prepared for a subsequent race.
When the 31-year-old runner crossed the line for a second time and realised the error he was clearly angry. But within a few seconds he was smiling again as he took the green, black, blue and gold Tanzanian flag on another circular journey.
Francis Robert, the youngest of four brothers with outstanding running ability, only began his competitive career after his elder brother died of head injuries in 1994 having been hit by a car while training.
The Commonwealth bronze medallist was not thought to be badly injured initially, but died two days after the incident.
Naali finished in 2hr 11min 58sec, ahead of Kenya's Joshua Chelanga, who recorded 2:12:44.
The Tanzanian got away from the field a couple of miles from the end, but looked desperately drawn and tired over the final stages as he looked over his shoulder to check how close his pursuers were.
The man who was expected to win, Kenya's double Olympic medallist Eric Wainaina, had a disappointing run and ended the race with nothing, as Australia's Andrew Letherby swept past him into the bronze medal position for a personal best time of 2:13:23. There was disappointment too for Kenya in the women's marathon, where the plan to dominate the Games' distance events – a ruse successfully carried out in the 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase – went awry. Their strongest runner, Esther Maina, dropped out at halfway, having shared the lead with the eventual winner, Australia's Kerryn McCann, from the start.
It was McCann's first marathon win in 16 attempts, and she led home an unprecedented Australian sweep in a time of 2:30:05. The silver medal went to team mate Krishna Stanton in 2:34:52, with the former world triathlon champion Jackie Gallagher claiming bronze in 2:36.37.
"It was a hard decision for me because I'm getting old, but I always like to take the chance to represent my country," said the 35-year-old from Wollongong, New South Wales.
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