Ethiopian Dibaba favourite, but all eyes on Estonian marathon triplets

0
Estonian triplets (from left) Leila, Liina and Lily Luik. — Reuters photo

Estonian triplets (from left) Leila, Liina and Lily Luik. — Reuters photo

Ethiopian Mare Dibaba may be favourite for the women’s Olympic marathon on Sunday, but the rare sight of the identical triplets pounding the streets of Rio threatens to be the focus of attention.

Estonia’s Leila, Liina and Lily Luik, the 30-year-old trio all petite, platinum blonde and blue-eyed, will make history at the Rio Olympics.

Born on October 14, 1985, five years before Estonia broke free from the Soviet Union, none of the triplets have run times that threaten the medal contenders.

They qualified for the Rio Olympics, despite having taken up marathon running just six years ago. Leila tops the trio with a personal best of 2 hours 37 minutes, well off the 2:23:07 Olympic record set by Ethiopian runner Tiki Gelana at the 2012 London Olympics.

Undaunted, Leila said the sisters are simply “aiming for our new personal best times”.

“We’ll approach it positively, support each other and hope to keep running together from start to finish. This is a great motivation for us and really gives us willpower and strength.”

They will likely finish a good 10 minutes or more behind Dibaba, who claimed gold at last year’s world championships in Beijing.

But calling marathon winners is a tough one, with many top road runners opting to race just one or two marathons in any twelve-month period, making their form difficult to assess.

Dibaba comes into the Olympics having not raced since finishing sixth at the London Marathon.

She will come under threat from the two women she edged out in Beijing: Kenya’s Helah Kiprop and Bahrain’s Kenya-born Eunice Kirwa. Kiprop heads up a strong Kenyan trio that includes London Marathon winner Jemima Sumgong and Paris Marathon champion Visiline Jepkesho.

Dibaba will look to her teammates Tirfe Tsegayewho, who timed a world-leading 2:19:41 to win the Dubai Marathon at the start of the year and then finished second at the Boston Marathon, and Tigist Tufa for some tactical help.

Pioneering Saudi sportswoman Sarah al-Attar will also be among the field.

Attar turned heads in the head-to-toe outfit she patched together with her mother to race in the 800 metres at the 2012 London Games, where she was one of the first Saudi women Olympians.

This time Attar, now 23, will compete in the marathon thanks to a special invitation from the International Olympic Committee. — AFP