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Derartu Tulu: What sports are about

posted by Women's Sports Blog
Monday, November 2, 2009 at 10:28am PST

An irreverent look at the news, issues, and personalities of women's sports from a feminist perspective.

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Good lord, there have been a lot of Big Important Stories on the blog recently. I promise some light-hearted banter next. But I have to relay the amazing tale of yesterday's New York Marathon winner, 37-year-old Derartu Tulu. The first black African to win Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters, she retired from racing when a comeback attempt faltered after the birth of her second child. She certainly hasn't been running at the elite level at the marathon distance recently, with her only victory coming in 2001. But not only did she accomplish another first, becoming the first Ethiopian to win the New York Marathon, she did so with an astonishing display of sportspersonship, at one point slowing to wait for the injured Paula Radcliffe, whom she supported with words of encouragement throughout the race. Tulu's ethic is one of the purest example of how sports can bring out the best in the human spirit.

Photos: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty.

Tulu


Tuluradcliffe

View Original Post at ftlouie.typepad.com/womensports

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