Athlete of the week

Kenyan-born Romanian Marathon runner Delvine Meringor

Florin Orban, 21.03.2023, 01:45

Romania has already registered its first woman
athlete that secured the qualification to the Olympic Games in 2024. Her name is
Delvine Meringor, and this past Sunday in the Barcelona Marathon Meringor came
in third, clocking 2 hours, 20 minutes and 48 seconds. Delvine thus met the set
target required for the qualification in Paris. For her noteworthy performance,
Radio Romania International has designated Delvine Meringor the Athlete of the week.

The competition in Barcelona was extremely
heated, while its standard was really high. The Marathon records were broken in the men’s as well as in the women’s version of the competition. Bahrain’s Marius Kimutai
clocked 2 hours, 5 minutes and 6 seconds, while the winner of the women’s
marathon, Ethiopian runner Zeineba Yimer Worku clocked 2 hours, 19 minutes
and 44 de seconds. The women’s runner-up marathon runner was Kenya’s Selly
Chpeyego, who crossed the finish line 44 seconds earlier than
Delvine Meringor. In the women’s version of the Barcelona Marathon, seven runners
failed to meet the International Federation’s Olympic target set at 2 hours, 26
minutes and 50 seconds. As of late, the Olympic set target has been very high,
while the most recent such set target is only 6 seconds higher than the timing
clocked by the Romanian race runner Constantina Dita, who in 2008 won gold in the Beijing
Olympics.

Delvine Meringor was born in Kenya, on August
1st, 1992. Since August 2021 Meringor has been a Romanian citizen and
is signed up by Steaua Bucharest, while her coach is Valentin Anghel. According
to the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee and in keeping with a World Athletics
resolution, Delvine can legally represent Romania at national level beginning July
5th, 2024. (EN)