Stefano Baldini
Stefano Baldini ( born May 25, 1971 in Castelnovo di Sotto ) is a former Italian long-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist in the marathon.
Career
At the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki in 1994, he came in the 10,000 m at rank 20 and at the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg in 1995 to 18th place. Making its debut on the 42,195 -km distance in the same year was sixth at the Venice Marathon. The following year he reached at the Olympic Games in Atlanta about 5000 m the semi-finals and finished the 10,000 m the 18th Place. He had his first major international success in the same year with the title at the World Half Marathon Championships in Palma.
In 1997, he won the race Roma - Ostia. As second in the London Marathon, he presented 2:07:57 h on an Italian record. At the 10,000 - meter race at the World Championships in Athens and at the World Half Marathon Championships in Kosice, he came ninth, then at the New York City Marathon by third parties.
The following year, followed by victories at the Rome marathon and the marathon at the European Championships in Budapest. He won the bronze medal each in the marathons of the World Athletics Championships in Edmonton in 2001 and 2003 in Paris / Saint- Denis. He also won in 2001 at the Madrid Millennium Marathon, in 2000 and 2002 and sixth in 2003 second again in London, 2001 second at Turin Marathon, 2001 and 2002 Fifth in New York City as well as fourth in the 10,000 m at the European Championships in Munich in 2002.
But his greatest triumph was winning the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, for which he had qualified with a fourth place in London. Four years earlier, Baldini had to give up injured in the marathon in the Olympic Games in Sydney. The run from Marathon to Athens was especially so in the Olympic history, because the leading in the course of Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima was pushed by religious fanatics Cornelius Horan from the track, thereby losing valuable time and energy and be a little later overtaken by Stefano Baldini could. Baldini crossed the finish line first, but de Lima was celebrated little as bronze medalist as the winner later. However, it remains to notice that Vanderlei de Lima had lost up to the time of the incident already more than a minute of his lead. Thus, it remains doubtful whether de Lima would have won without incident.
2005 Baldini fifth in London, but had to retire due to cramps at the World Athletics Championships in Helsinki in 2005 after 35 kilometers. In 2006 he came to London again to fifth place and improved his Italian record 2:07:22 h At the European Championships in Gothenburg in 2006 he took another marathon gold. In 2007 he finished fourth in New York City.
In 2008 he was twelfth respectively the London Marathon and the Olympic Games in Beijing. After he had actually already finished his career, he tried at the European Championships 2010 title defense, had been carried on by half of the distance. In the autumn he explained his final retirement from competitive sport and said goodbye with a lap of honor at the Giro al Sas in Trent, he had won three times by his fans.
In each case, six times he was national champion in the 10,000 m (1993-1996, 2001, 2002 ) and in the half marathon (1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2009).
Stefano Baldini has a competition weight of 58 kg at a height of 1.76 m. He is the eighth of eleven children of a farming family in the province of Reggio Emilia. Until 1992, he was trained by Emilio Benati, after Luciano Gigliotti, who had cared for Gelindo Bordin, the Olympic champion from 1988. Baldini's wife Virna De Angeli is the Italian record holder over 400 meters, now has the couple has a daughter, but separately.
Personal Best
- 3000 m: 7:43,14 min, 12 July 1996 Bellinzona
- 5000 m: 13:23,43 min, June 5, 1996, Rome
- 10,000 m: 27:43,98 min, 29 May 1996 Bratislava
- 10 - km road race: 28:10 min, August 17, 2002 Arco (Italian record )
- Half Marathon: 1:00:50 h, June 12, 2000 Malmö
- Marathon: 2:07:22 h 23 April, 2006, London (Italian record )