Sizmaz leads 12
finish for Turkey in women's marathon
AP
11 September 2001 - Tunis - Mehtap Sizmaz led a 1-2 finish for Turkey in the women's marathon at the Mediterranean Games on Tuesday, completing the long, hot stretch in 2:40.49.
Sergio Chiesa won gold for Italy in the men's event with a time of 2:21.07, taking the first athletics medal of the games.
Sizmaz was running strong as she entered the Rades stadium despite bright sunshine and temperatures of around 30 C. She powered to the finish line, checking her stopwatch as she crossed.
Fellow Turk Serap Aktas took silver, finishing far behind the leader in 2:43.18. Tunisian Sonia Hamed Agoun was third to complete the run through her country's capital city.
Sizmaz's victory kept her nation in the lead in the medals table with 28 golds on the ninth day of competition.
Chiesa won the men's race with a comfortable margin over second placed El Mostafa Damaoui of Morocco, who was 1.18 behind in 2:22.25. Ali Mabrouk El Zaidi won bronze to give Libya its first medal of the games.
Men
Marathon
1. Sergio Chiesa, Italy, 2:21.07
2. El Mostafa Damaoui, Morocco, 2:22.25
3. Ali
Mabrouk El Zaidi, Libya, 2:22.56
4. Ahmed Soliman,
Egypt, 2:23.49
5. Azzeddine Sakhri, Algeria, 2:24.58
6. Nicola
Ciavarella, Italy, 2:25.41
7. Mohamed Sakri,
Tunisia, 2:29.16
8. Mounir El Ouardi, Morocco, 2:29.56
Women
Marathon
1. Mehtap Sizmaz, Turkey, 2:40.49
2. Serap Aktas, Turkey, 2:43.18
3. Sonia Hamed Agoun, Tunisia, 2:46.03
4. Georgia Ampatzidou, Greece, 2:52.37
5. Nasria Azaidj, Algeria, 3:01.21
