Olympic champion Stefano pays tribute to Misoi after Frankfurt victory

When the victory ceremonies in the Festhalle were well and truly over and all of the 7,946 finishers had left the arena, Brimin Misoi, winner of the men’s title at the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, received a surprise but particularly welcome honour. 

In the lobby of the event hotel, the Mövenpick, the Kenyan was congratulated by the Olympic Marathon champion from the Games in Athens in 2004, Stefano Baldini. 

Kenyan double as Kaptich, Misoi bag Frankfurt titles

This achievement, naturally enough, made the latter a hero in his native Italy and the lustre has lasted to this day. 

“Brimin ran a really strong race today in tough conditions, it was an impressive performance,” said Baldini as he reflected on Misoi’s performance in setting a personal best of 2:06:11 by exactly two-and-a-half minutes.

“Because of the high temperatures it was more like a championship race in August. Anyone who can cope with such conditions so well is well prepared to contest medals in peak summer.”

Baldini was present at the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon in his role as coach. One of the athletes in his group, Rebecca Lonedo, ran her debut marathon and finished in 2:39:54. 

This year’s men’s winner of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon has something in common with the Olympic champion in that Misoi has also won on the same classic marathon course from the town of Marathon to the heart of Athens. The Kenyan won there in 2018.

When Baldini crowned his career with Olympic gold in 2004 he ran 2:10:55. The times are not really comparable, but they differ by just one second. 

The Italian was running in the summer heat of Athens while Brimin Misoi ran 2:10:56 there 14 years later in November. 

“The Athens course is very tough. Anyone who runs well there has to be strong and deserves respect,” commented Baldini, who returned to the race in 2019 and ran the highly respectable time of 2:57:07 as a 48-year-old. 

As far as personal bests are concerned, Misoi has overtaken the Olympic champion in the world all-time list with his own best mark of 2:06:11. 

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“The Frankfurt course is very fast,” said Baldini, who these days works as a TV commentator for Sky Sport Italia.

For Misoi, a victory in 2:06 is far from being the last time he might be celebrating. 

“In future I would like to run times of 2:03 to 2:04. I’ll begin training again in December and may well run the Tokyo Marathon in March. If possible, I would love to return next year to Frankfurt and defend my title,” said the Kenyan. 

On 29 October 2023 the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon will celebrate its 40th edition.