Last week African Games delegates were conducting an inspection of the Gold Coast's potential Games sporting venues. This coincided with the Gold Coast Airport Marathon. This massive sports festival hosted 5, 10, 21 and 42 km road races along Gold Coast's famous coastal strip. The event also had a massive 60 stall sports expo and various sports and health seminars at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. The event injected millions into the local economy and could be the jewel in the crown of the Coast's 2018 Commonwealth Games bid.
Gold Coast Marathon: $10 000 bonus just missed
The Games delegates witnessed a world-class field doing battle up and down the Gold Coast last Sunday. In the men's race, three times Australian Olympic representative Lee Troop was striving to win another Coast marathon and secure his 4th Olympic spot. But the African athletes of Koech, Shumye and Kangogo all had sub 2hr 9min marathons under their belt and would be pushing Troop. In the end it was Kenyan Nicholas Manza who surged away with 3km to go to win in a race record 2hr 10min and 1 sec. The time was only 2 seconds off the $25 000 bonus for breaking the 2hr 10min barrier. Manza's disappointment was only matched by Troop's as he faded to 2hr 15min and now has only two more qualifying attempts at the 2012 London Olympics.
In the women's race, the Japanese runner Tanaka was in form along with African Reta. But it was Ethiopian athlete Goitetom Haftu Tesema who raced to victory in 2hr 30min 08sec, again just missing out on the bonus for sub 2hr 30min. Both the men's and women's times reflect a fast course and an event that that stands tall on the international scene. All these are important ingredients as the Gold Coast strives for its own victory to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The Games are due to be announced in November.
The other major rival is Sri Lanka's Hambantota.
For more information, visit goldcoast2018bid.com