Israel Celebrates Marathon Runners Olympic Finish
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By
Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem----August 30.......Haile
Satayin is no ordinary Israeli.
At the age of 49 he runs an average of over 200 kilometers a week. His
physical stamina and endurance would easily overshadow the best of the
Israel Defense Forces' elite commandos.
And last night in Athens, he proudly claimed a 20th position finish for
Israel in the Olympic's final event - the Marathon.
The Ethiopian-born Satayin
ran a world-class race in heat and humidity that saw 20 marathon runners,
some of whom are half his age, drop out during the 41.8-kilometer race.
The Israeli record holder ran his own, intelligent race and slowly moved
up towards the leaders.
The Israeli from Tel Aviv was ranked 44th after the 15-km. mark, climbed
to 32nd by the 25-km. mark, and them cruised to 25th by the 30th km.
A final push in the last 10 km. saw the 1.69m tall Satayin pass another five runners to cross the finish line 20th overall in a highly impressive two hours, 17 minutes, and 25 seconds. However, in a bizarre twist, the Israeli did not realize that he had finished and thought that he had one more lap to go. After crossing the finish line for the second time 1:36 later, the organizing committee erased his initial result and dropped him eight spots to correspond with his second finishing time.
The Israeli delegation immediately filed an appeal, which was accepted three hours after the race ended and returned Satyain to the respectable 20th place that he rightfully earned.
Satayin was ready for the hills and heat of Athens, as he has trained and competed in the rocky hills of Jerusalem. The first Jerusalem Marathon was established in 1992 and quickly became an annual half-marathon event as the steep hills took their toll on the athletes and the traffic, created by a full marathon run through the streets of Jerusalem, weared down the Israeli pedestrians.
Satayin also prepared for Olympian
marathon by racing in both the Tiberius Marathon and competing regularly
at the Wingate Sports Institute in Israel. Satayin is the national record
holder in the 20,000 meter, one-hour, half-marathon and marathon events
in Israel. Satayin, who trains without a coach, emigrated from Ethiopia
in 1991, has won 26 Israeli national titles and competes regularly on
the European circuit.
Israel's other marathoner, Asaf Bimro, crossed the finish line in 2:25:26, ranking the 35-year-old 59th overall.
Israel marathon runner Haile Satayin was by far the oldest athlete in the competition yesterday.
The Olympic marathon was won by Italian Stefano Baldini.
Baldini took the lead three km. from the finish to win the gold medal, while American Meb Keflezighi took silver in an Olympic marathon disrupted by a costumed intruder who assaulted the race leader with about 4.5 km. to go.
As the runners went through the streets of Athens, the intruder came from the runner's left and dragged him to the side, all the way to the curb and into the crowd. Police quickly went after the man, one security officer leaping from a bicycle, as Lima pushed himself free and kept running.
The intruder had a piece of paper attached to his back bearing the message: "The Grand Prix Priest Israel Fulfillment of Prophecy Says the Bible." Police identified him as Cornelius Horan, an Irish citizen.
Lima's lead had already been diminishing before the incident. Afterward, Baldini and then Keflezighi passed Lima not far from the stadium.
Asaf Bimro, 35, hopes that like his 49-year-old teammate, Haile Satayin, he will keep getting better and compete in Beijing in 2008 as well. But, when pressed to speculate on the next generation of Israeli long-distance runners, Bimro says, "What you see here is the future of our sport... it's very sad."
Canadian 57-year-old Ian Millar, competing in his eighth Olympics in equestrian, is the oldest athlete competing in these Olympic Games, according to the inter-Olympic news agency.
From other countries, 47-year-old Martina Navratilova is playing tennis for the U.S., 45-year-old road cyclist Jeannie Longo races for France and 44-year-old Merlene Ottey is a sprinter for Slovenia.
"When I [compete] in Europe, I see that track and field is considered the most important sport - more than soccer, basketball, and all the others. They respect these sports the most."
In Israel, however, Bimro feels that his sport doesn't get the respect, or financial support, it deserves. As a result, those that would be capable of climbing up through the ranks drop out.
Citing willpower, patience, and time as the keys to a good marathoner, Bimro talks of Israeli youngsters with the potential to succeed who simply throw in the towel when the going gets tough.
"It's especially hard to run 250-260 kilometers a week without the [financial] support."
Haile Satayin will join Israel's first Olympian gold medal winner windsurfer Gal Fridman and other Israeli team members when they return to Israel and pay tribute to the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches murdered at the 1972 Games in Munich by Palestinian terrorists. "Every Israeli grows up hearing about the Munich martyrs, and each Olympic team pays its respects at a Tel Aviv memorial before and after heading off to the Games. "We don't stop," says Israeli Olympic Committee president Zvi Varshaviak. "We've been waiting a long time."
A fax arrived in Athens for Fridman, from the families of those who died in the Munich massacre. "Dearest Gal," it said, "we were moved to the depth of our souls that you remembered and dedicated our victory to our dear ones." To see the Israeli flag raised and to hear HaTikvah (The Hope), the national anthem, "closed a circle for us and was the realization of a dream."
Both Satayin and Fridman
represented the finest of Israel in Athens.
Running and sailing in a peaceful environment.
All of Israel looks forward to producing more Satayin's and Fridman's
but it will take both financial investment and a real Palestinian peace
partner to turn bullets and bombs into future medals and smiles.
