Washington alum Izzi Batt-Doyle gets Olympic marathon qualifying standard in Valencia...
In Valencia, Spain, University of Washington alum Izzi Batt-Doyle (Paul Merca photo) took a major step towards selection to her second career Australian Olympic team with her tenth place finish in the Valencia Marathon Sunday morning.
Competing in one of the world's fastest marathon courses, the 2019 All-American and Pac-12 10000 meter champion ran a personal best of 2:23:27, eclipsing her old best of 2:27:54, set on March 12th in Nagoya, Japan.
Her time is the fifth fastest in Australian history, and also ducked under the Olympic Games standard of 2:26:50.
As of now, Batt-Doyle is the number four marathoner in Australia in the "Road to Paris" rankings, behind Sinead Diver (2:21:34, Valencia 2022); Genevieve Gregson (2:23:08, Valencia 2023); and Lisa Weightman (2:23:15, Osaka, 2023), which could make the selection of the Australian team interesting after the marathon qualifying period for the Paris Olympics ends on May 6th.
Here's Izzi's post on her Instagram page:
Sisay Lemma (2:01:48) and Worknesh Degefa (2:15:51) of Ethiopia were the men's and women's winners.
One notable stat from Valencia: 28 men ran under the Olympic Games standard of 2:08:10, including 41-year old world and Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, who set a masters' world record of 2:04:19 in finishing fourth overall.
NOTE: The Valencia Marathon and Athletics Australia contributed to this report.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below.
Comments