1987 World Championships in Athletics – Women's marathon

The race started and finished at the Stadio Olimpico, and largely stayed within the area of central Rome enclosed by the Aurelian Walls. It skirted around the lower edges of three of the seven hills of Rome without climbing any of them, and passed several ancient landmarks, including the Colosseum, the Baths of Caracalla and St. Peter's Square.[1][2] Part of the course ran along cobbled streets, which along with the warm temperatures forecast, led to expectations that there would not be fast times in the race.[3]

Several of the world's quickest female marathoners were absent from the race.[4] Ingrid Kristiansen, who was the world record holder, having run the 1985 London Marathon in 2:21:06, opted to run the 10,000 metres instead.[2] Joan Benoit, the Olympic champion, was also missing, as she was pregnant. Grete Waitz, the reigning world champion suffered a suspected stress fracture in her foot after running a 5,000-metre time-trial on 15 August, and although she travelled to Rome and considered running with painkillers, she decided not to take the risk, and withdrew. In their absence, the favourites were Rosa Mota of Portugal and Australia's Lisa Martin.[2][4] Mota was a two-time European champion, and the third quickest female marathoner, while Martin had run the fifth fastest women's marathon time.[2] Both came into the Championships in less than ideal situations: Mota had been suffering from a urinary tract infection, while training in Florida, Martin had overtrained in hot conditions.[4]

The race started at 16:55 local time on 29 August 1987, the opening day of the Championships,[5] in temperatures of around 27 °C (80 °F). Mota took the lead before the marathon left the stadium, and extended it as the race progressed. She completed the first half of the marathon in 1:12:10, and won by over seven minutes.[3] When she crossed the finish line, in 2:25:17, she continued running, as she thought she had another lap to complete. It was only when a race official flagged her down 30 metres (98 ft) into her second lap, telling her that she had finished, that she stopped. She blamed her mistake on the instructions she had received before the race: "an official told me I had to take two loops of the track".[6] Mota's time was a new championship record, beating the 2:28:09 set by Grete Waitz at the 1983 marathon.[3]

Martin, who was expected to be the most likely to challenge Mota in the race withdrew after 25 kilometres (16 mi); she was falling back down the field, and her whole body felt sore. She blamed it residual fatigue from the problems she had suffered during training in Florida.[7] Martin was one of nine runners to pull out of the race.[8] Zoya Ivanova of the Soviet Union finished in second, in 2:32:38, while France's Jocelyne Villeton claimed bronze, in 2:32:53.[3]

At the 1988 Olympics, Mota beat Martin by 13 seconds and became the only woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion simultaneously.[9]

• 1984 Women's Olympic Marathon (Los Angeles)
• 1986 Women's European Championships Marathon (Stuttgart)
• 1988 Women's Olympic Marathon (Seoul)
• 1990 Women's European Championships Marathon (Split)