Australian marathon runner Lisa Weightman has attained an Olympic qualifying time and a twelfth place finish at today’s BMW Frankfurt Marathon.
While her time of 2:29:23 is shy of her personal best of 2:28:48 which she set in winning the 2010 Nagano International Marathon, it is well under the 2:32:00 mark set by Athletics Australia for qualification for next year’s London Olympics.
In a strong international field, Weightman ran conservatively in the first half of the race, crossing in 1:13:20.
Although a significant time away from training in the first five months of the year due to injury contributed to a slower second half split, the time was still Weightman’s second fastest of her career.
Having spent the last few months training at altitude in Boulder, Colorado, Weightman said that she was looking forward to returning home to Australia to begin preparations for 2012.
“Now that I am getting fit again, I want to move forward,” Weightman said.
“This year before I got injured we had a lot of plans to tackle two marathons, do some other road races and really catapult to the next stage.
“However because of the injuries it obviously didn’t happen, so I am very grateful for the opportunity to get the qualifying time under my belt in a short and intense preparation.”
Weightman’s success is the second time in as many weeks an Australian has posted an Olympic “A” marathon time, with fellow Dick Telford-trained athlete Michael Shelley recording 2:11:23 at the Amsterdam Marathon on 16 October.
Pending confirmation from the selection panel, Weightman’s appearance at London next year will be her second Olympic Games after Beijing in 2008.
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