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News17 Oct 1999


Japan's Yonehara wins Athens Classic Marathon

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AP

17 October 1999Athens - Greece  - Japan's Masato Yonehara sprinted to the finish line on Sunday to win the Athens Marathon in 2:18.35 over the ancient route that gives the event its name.

Yonehara, 32, resisted a challenge from last year's winner, Nikos Pollias of Greece, who came in 3 seconds later. Pollias’ countryman Vassilis Zambelis was third at 2:22:29.

"It was very stressful... but I'm very happy,'' said Yonehara, winner of the 1994 Portland Marathon. "The course was difficult, a lot of uphill and downhill.''

The route is said to closely follow the legendary run of the Athenian soldier Pheidippides in 490 BC from the plain of Marathon to Athens, where he collapsed and died after announcing the victory of the Greeks against Persian invaders.

The same course is planned for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

In the women's competition, Okuno Tamaki of Japan won in 2:46:46, beating Greeks Georgia Abatzidou and Iota Nikolakopoulou, who finished respectively in 2:53:01 and 3:09:13.

Organisers said more than 1,500 people took part in the marathon, which ended at the all-marble Pan Athenian stadium, site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

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