Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 18, 1994 TAG: 9404180043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
For years, the two world-class distance runners were confined to competing in their native South Africa because the nation's policy of racial separation prevented its athletes from competing internationally.
Then, in 1992, shortly before the Barcelona Olympics, the ban was lifted and the athletes were liberated.
Meyer and de Reuck will make history today. They not only will be the first world-class South African women in the Boston Marathon, but the first world-class African women in the race's 98-year history.
"It was amazing," said Meyer, 27, when asked about the news two years ago that South Africa had been readmitted and would be able to participate in the Games for the first time since 1960. "For many years, we couldn't do it . . . South Africans never had the opportunity.
"For the biggest part of my career, isolation was a reality. I didn't see the Olympics or the World Championships as a possibility," said the 1992 Olympic silver medalist at 10,000 meters. "I thought that's the way it would be.
"Now, I feel lucky to be a part of this generation."
De Reuck, 30, the ninth-place finisher in the 1992 Olympic marathon, is just as enthusiastic as Meyer about South Africa's return to the international fold.
"It was fantastic, great," she said, beaming.
"At the Olympics, you just have goose bumps and you always have a smile on your face. The whole atmosphere is so different, so exciting. I was just so grateful to be able to compete in the Olympics, because a lot of great athletes have missed that opportunity.
"We were being penalized even though we didn't agree with the political scene."
De Reuck said she was getting "tired" of running because she had achieved her goals domestically, including winning the South African marathon championship and earning the Springbok colors, a prestigious honor for an athlete.
"Now, competing internationally, it gives you more inspiration and more hope to achieve new goals," she said.
Meyer, making her marathon debut, and de Reuck, competing in her third marathon - and her first since the Olympics - are among the favorites Monday in an exceptionally strong women's field.
Their major opposition will include two-time defending champion Olga Markova of Russia, Olympic gold medalist Valentina Yegerova of Russia, 1993 New York City Marathon winner Uta Pippig of Germany, two-time Boston runner-up Kim Jones of Spokane, Wash., 1993 third-place finisher Carmen de Oliviera of Brazil, New York City third-place finisher Nadia Prasad of France and 1993 world cross country champion Albertina Dias of Portugal.
The men's elite field is even deeper.
It includes 1993 champion Cosmas Ndeti of Kenya, Olympic gold medalist Hwang Young-Jo of Korea, 1993 New York City Marathon winner Andres Espinosa of Mexico, New York runner-up and 1992 Olympian Bob Kempainen of Minneapolis, New York third-place finisher and former 10,000-meter world record-holder Arturo Barrios of Mexico and Olympic bronze medalist Stephan Freigang of Germany.
De Reuck has been overshadowed in publicity in South Africa by Meyer and Zola Budd Pieterse, and now lives in Boulder, Colo. Nevertheless, she was voted her country's Road Runner of the Year in 1993.
Neither Meyer nor de Reuck has anything to prove. They just want to show the world their capabilities in a race with an international stage.
by CNB