Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini will run in the New York City
Marathon on November 5, joining a field that also features Kenya's Paul Tergat,
the defending champion and marathon world-record holder
Baldini is the 2006 European marathon champ. The 35-year-old Italian won the
gold medal at the 1996 IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships and took the
marathon bronze at the world championships in 2001 and 2003.
"Baldini is our sport's golden boy," said Mary Wittenberg, president of New
York Road Runners, the race organizer. "He adds a glitter to an already
star-studded field."
This will be Baldini's fourth appearance in the race. He was third in 1997
and fifth in 2002. He did not finish in 1996.
Baldini is trying to become the fifth Italian to win the race. The men's
winners were Orlando Pizzolato (1984, 1985), Gianni Poli (1986) and Giacomo
Leone (1996). Franca Fiacconi won the women's title in 1998.
