| Final 18:00 | time | | 1. Mizuki Noguchi |  Japan | 2:26:20 | | 2. Catherine Ndereba |  Kenya | 2:26:32 | | 3. Deena Kastor |  United States | 2:27:20 | | 4. Elfenesh Alemu |  Ethiopia | 2:28:15 | | 5. Reiko Tosa | Japan | 2:28:44 | | 6. Olivera Jevtic |  SCG | 2:31:15 | | 7. Naoko Sakamoto | Japan | 2:31:43 | | 8. Lyudmila Petrova |  Russia | 2:31:56 | | 9. Svetlana Zakharova | Russia | 2:32:04 | | 10.Bruna Genovese |  Italy | 2:32:50 | | 11.Alice Chelangat | Kenya | 2:33:52 | | 12.Shujing Zhang |  China | 2:34:34 | | 13.Nuta Olaru |  Romania | 2:34:45 | | 14.Zivile Balciünaite |  Lithuania | 2:35:01 | | 15.Corinne Raux |  France | 2:35:54 | | 16.Rosaria Console | Italy | 2:35:56 | | 17.Malgorzata Sobanska |  Poland | 2:36:43 | | 18.Luminita Zaituc |  Germany | 2:36:45 | | 19.Eun-Jung Lee |  South Korea | 2:37:23 | | 20.Constantina Tomescu | Romania | 2:37:31 | | 21.Yong-Ok Jong |  North Korea | 2:37:52 | | 22.Helan Li | China | 2:37:53 | | 23.Yun-hee Chung | South Korea | 2:38:57 | | 24.Stine Larsen |  Norway | 2:39:55 | | 25.Liz Yelling |  Great Britain | 2:40:13 | | 26.Maria Abel |  Spain | 2:40:13 | | 27.Hafida Izem |  Marocco | 2:40:46 | | 28.Anna Pichrtovä |  Czechia | 2:40:58 | | 29.Tracey Morris | Great Britain | 2:41:00 | | 30.Kenza Wahbi | Marocco | 2:41:36 | | 31.Kerryn Mccann |  Australia | 2:41:41 | | 32.Beatriz Ros | Spain | 2:41:51 | | 33.Chunxiu Zhou | China | 2:42:54 | | 34.Jennifer Rhines | United States | 2:43:52 | | 35.Kyung-Hee Choi | South Korea | 2:44:05 | | 36.Sandra Ruales |  Ecuador | 2:44:28 | | 37.Maria Dolores Pulido | Spain | 2:44:33 | | 38.Margarita Tapia |  Mexico | 2:46:14 | | 39.Colleen De Reuck | United States | 2:46:30 | | 40.Albina Ivanova | Russia | 2:47:23 | | 41.Grazyna Syrek | Poland | 2:47:26 | | 42.Nili Avramski |  Israel | 2:48:08 | | 43.Clarisse Rasoarizay |  Madagascar | 2:48:14 | | 44.Jane Salume |  Estonia | 2:48:47 | | 45.Simona Staicu |  Hungary | 2:48:57 | | 46.Angelica Sänchez | Mexico | 2:49:04 | | 47.Helena Sampaio |  Portugal | 2:49:18 | | 48.Beäta Rakonczai | Hungary | 2:49:41 | | 49.Annemette Jensen |  Denmark | 2:50:01 | | 50.Yeoryia Abatzidou |  Greece | 2:50:01 | | 51.Liza Hunter-Galvan |  New Zealand | 2:50:23 | | 52.Hafida Gadi | France | 2:50:29 | | 53.Gulsara Dadabaeva |  Tajikistan | 2:50:45 | | 54.Epiphanie Nyirabarame |  RWA | 2:52:50 | | 55.Sandra Torres |  Argentina | 2:54:48 | | 56.Bun-Hui Jo | North Korea | 2:55:54 | | 57.Yu-Fang Hsu |  Chinese Taipei | 2:55:58 | | 58.Erika Olivera |  Chile | 2:57:14 | | 59.Mariela Gonzälez |  Cuba | 3:02:20 | | 60.Ida Koväcs | Hungary | 3:03:21 | | 61.Svetlana Tkach-Shepeleva |  Moldova | 3:03:29 | | 62.Ana Dias | Portugal | 3:08:11 | | 63.Inga Juodeškiene | Lithuania | 3:09:18 | | 64.Mamokete Lechela |  Lesotho | 3:11:56 | | 65.Agueda Amaral |  TLS | 3:18:25 | | 66.Luvsanlkhundeg Otgonbayar |  Mongolia | 3:48:42 | | -. Nadia Ejjafini |  BRN | DNF | | -. Lale ztürk |  Turkey | DNF | | -. Ulrike Maisch | Germany | DNF | | -. Monika Drybulska | Poland | DNF | | -. Marlene Fortunato |  Brazil | DNF | | -. Irina Bogachova |  Kyrgyzstan | DNF | | -. Märcia Narloch | Brazil | DNF | | -. Paula Radcliffe | Great Britain | DNF | | -. Bong-Sil Ham | North Korea | DNF | | -. Lidia Simon | Romania | DNF | | -. Asha Gigi | Ethiopia | DNF | | -. Rakiya Maraoui-Quetier | France | DNF | | -. Nasria Azadj |  Algeria | DNF | | -. Margaret Okayo | Kenya | DNF | | -. Banuelia Mrashani |  Tanzania | DNF | | -. Workenesh Tola | Ethiopia | DNF |
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| Int. | Athlete | Team | Time | | 5km | Kenza Wahbi | MOR | 17:09 | | 10km | Paula Radcliffe | GBR | 34:25 | | 15km | Mizuki Noguchi | JPN | 52:11 | | 20km | Elfenesh Alemu | ETH | 1:09:57 | | Half | Reiko Tosa | JPN | 1:14:02 | | 25km | Mizuki Noguchi | JPN | 1:28:05 | | 30km | Mizuki Noguchi | JPN | 1:45:02 | | 35km | Mizuki Noguchi | JPN | 2:02:04 | | 40km | Mizuki Noguchi | JPN | 2:19:00 |
| | | Finish: Athens Olympic Stadium, Marousi. Capp.: 72,000. | | Quota: 82 competitors from 48 nations. |
Paula Radcliffe had dominated the marathon scene after concentrating
on the event from 2002, with three of the four fastest ever times, and a
world record of 2:15:25 in 2003 which was more than three minutes
quicker than anyone else. The pressure to win was immense.
The race began cautiously in a temperature of 30°C which would
climb to 35° as the race progressed. At 20km (69:57) the leaders were
Alemu, Noguchi, Tosa, Ndereba and Radcliffe. At 25km Noguchi
attacked as the runners went uphill. The sixth 5km portion took her
16:57, the fastest of the race to that point, bringing Noguchi a lead of
23 seconds over Alemu, with Radcliffe another eight seconds behind.
Ndereba was 37 seconds behind Noguchi, and Kastor, running a careful
race was 2:11 behind in eighth place. Radcliffe dropped out in turmoil
just after 36km, after being passed by Alemu for third place. Later it
was explained that her demise was due to a reaction to an “aggressive
line of treatment” of a quadriceps injury which had flared up before the
Games.
Kastor, now the quickest in the field, ran 16:20 for the 35-40km seg-
ment – the fastest split by any athlete in the race – and passed Alemu
just before 41km. Kastor ran her second half four minutes faster than
the first, but still finished a minute behind the resourceful Noguchi,
who won Japan’s second consecutive gold medal with 12 seconds to
spare over Ndereba.
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