Deena Kastor
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| Olympic medalist | |||
 Deena Kastor |
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| Medal record | |||
| Women's Athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Competitor for the  United States |
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| Bronze | Athens 2004 | Marathon | |
Deena Michelle Kastor (born Deena Michelle Drossin on February 14, 1973 in Waltham, Massachusetts) is an American long distance runner. She holds American records in the marathon, half-marathon, and numerous road distances. Kastor's most noted accomplishment is winning the bronze medal in the women's marathon at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
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[edit] Career Highlights
Kastor is an alumna of Agoura High School located in Agoura Hills, California. She ran collegiately for the University of Arkansas.
Kastor has twice been runner up in the World Cross Country Championships.
She holds U.S. records in the following events:
- Women's marathon (set when winning the 2006 Flora London Marathon with a time of 2:19:36)
- Women's half marathon (set at the 2006 Berlin Half Marathon with a time of 1:07:34)
- Women's road 15K (set at the 2003 Gate River Run in Jacksonville with a time of 47:15)
- Women's road 8K (set at the 2005 The LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago with a time of 24:36)
- Women's road 5K (set at the 2002 Carlsbad 5000 with a time of 14:54)
Kastor formerly held the following record:
- Women's 10,000 meters (set at Stanford in 2002 with a time of 30:50.32)
In recent years, Kastor has shifted her focus toward the marathon distance. She won the 2005 Chicago Marathon. In 2006, she won the London Marathon, setting an American record. She placed sixth at the 2006 New York City Marathon, and fifth at the 2007 Boston Marathon.
On 20 April 2008, Kastor won the U.S. women's Olympic marathon trials in Boston, MA, earning a spot among the top three who will represent the United States in the marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. She finished with an unofficial time of 2:29:35 after overtaking competitor Magdalena Lewy Boulet in mile 23. Kastor ran most of the race from behind, while Lewy Boulet built a commanding lead very early on, running alone for most of the marathon. With some 10 miles to go, Kastor made a move to catch up to Lewy Boulet, stringing out the field. Lewy Boulet took second place in 2:30:19. Blake Russell, the third place finsher in 2:32:40, will join Kastor and Lewy Boulet in Beijing.
Kastor was selected as the top women's marathoner in the world in 2006 by Track and Field News magazine.
Kastor is a featured subject in the 2007 marathon documentary, Spirit of the Marathon, which follows her victory at the 2005 Chicago Marathon.[1]
[edit] Inspirational Quotes
| “ | We make choices. I hate to say 'sacrifices.' When I speak to younger groups, to colleges and other younger athletes, I say 'we don't make sacrifices. If we truly love this sport and we have these goals and dreams in the sport, the classroom, or in life, they're not sacrifices. They're choices that we make to fulfill these goals and dreams.' Sacrifices makes it sound like 'oh, poor me, I have to do this in order to get to this,' and I don't really like that word. It was just really the choice to take care of myself and live a proper lifestyle. In doing that, I feel like a healthier person, I feel focused in everything, not just in my running. In following this one dream, I feel like I became an even more well-rounded person. | ” |
--Deena Kastor
| “ | I felt my throat start to close up, and I didn't think I was getting enough oxygen. I was scared, and I thought about quitting. But you don't want to quit when you've trained so hard and long for one race. | ” |
--Deena Kastor describing the effects of having been stung by a bee in the back of the throat 100 meters after the start of the World Cross-Country Championships in Portugal. Despite blacking out and falling during the 8k race, she finished in 12th place in the long course.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- DeenaKastor.com - Official website
- Deena Kastor's USOlympicTeam.com - 'Athlete Bio: Kastor, Deena, United States Olympic Team
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Constantina Tomescu-Dita |
Chicago Women's Marathon Winner 2005 |
Succeeded by Berhane Adere |
Preceded by Paula Radcliffe |
London Women's Marathon Winner 2006 |
Succeeded by Zhou Chunxiu |
| Preceded by Paula Radcliffe |
Women's Fastest Marathon Race 2006 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
