Last year there was more hype around Josiah Thugwane’s participation in the London Marathon than about the millennium bug.
This year, the Olympic champion is downplaying his chances after inadequate preparation, leaving Elana Meyer to carry the burden of South African hopes at one of the world’s top three big city marathons.
The 32-year-old Meyer lines up with an expected field of 30 000 athletes (41 000 have entered but many fail to pitch on the day), eager to finally win a major marathon after years as a bridesmaid.
Meyer’s chances are good.
Last year’s winner, Ireland’s Catherina McKiernan, withdrew suffering from an Achilles tendon injury while Britain’s Liz McColgan fell pregnant soon after sending her entry form in.
On paper that leaves just four women capable of winning.
Meyer, 1997 London Marathon winner Joyce Chepchuma of Kenya, Portugal’s former world champion and 1998 European champion, Manuela Machado, and former Olympic and world 10 000m champion and marathon debutante Fernando Ribeiro of Portugal.
Each of the contenders has both the background and experience to win, and to pick a favourite is a lottery in itself.
But Meyer has what none of her competitors have: strong motivation, form and experience, all neatly packaged in 45kg of world-class sinew.
Since making her marathon debut in Boston in 1994, Meyer has done everything but win a major marathon.
In 1994 she was third in Boston, in 1995 and 1997 second in the same race and in 1998 third in Chicago.
Sure she won the World Half Marathon title in Oslo in 1994 and has established world bests over the 21,1km distance in 1998 and 1999, but a victory in one of the “biggies” still eludes her.
This year, Meyer became the first woman to break the 67-minute barrier in the half marathon in Tokyo in February with a magical run of 66:44 that bettered her own world mark of 67:29 set in Kyoto last year.
Another sub-68-minute time in Kyoto just weeks later confirmed that Meyer is clearly reaching a physical peak in her long- distance career and now is as good a time as any to take advantage.
Meyer downplays the pressure, eager not to let expectations cloud her perspective.
“Although it is a great field, I don’t focus on my competitors,” Meyer says. “My focus will be on running as fast as I possibly can; if that effort puts me in first that will be a bonus.
“The nature of the event is also a big motivation for me to come to London,” she says. Because it is the only marathon on a flat course, she feels it is a true test of who is the best athlete on the day.
As for Thugwane, his preparations could not have been worse.
A niggling chronic groin injury ruined most of his early-year training and he will take his place as an underdog on Sunday morning against a field that includes all the luminaries of men’s marathons.
Defending world and London champion Abel Anton of Spain will start favourite as the world’s leading marathoner.
Then there’s Brazilian Ronaldo da Costa, who established a new world best of 2:06:05 in Berlin last October, Berlin runner-up Josephat Kiprono of Kenya, former London winner Antonio Pinto of Portugal and England’s own hope, Jon Brown.
“I’m about 85% fit at the moment,” Thugwane admits, “so my first objective will be to finish. After the injury there wasn’t enough time to train for London.”
Thugwane hopes, if all goes well, to recover quickly and use the race as preparation for the World Half Marathon championships and then plan an assault on the Fukuoka Marathon in December.
As for the rest of the group, former South African marathon champion Daniel Radebe lines up with the ever reliable Simon Mphulanyane.