Is Catherine Ndereba The Greatest Female Marathoner in History? Rank Your Top 10 Here

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15 years ago 10/14/2008 12:18pm EDT

re: POTUS)*

Forgot to edit... Simon shoud not be third...

1. Catherine Ndereba (Kenya)

~ 2003 WC Gold

~ 2004 Oly Silver

~ 2005 WC Silver

~ 2007 WC Gold

~ 2008 Oly Silver

~ Boston (4x), Chicago (2x), Osaka

2. Rosa Mota (Portugal)

~ 1983 WC 4th

~ 1984 Oly Bronze

~ 1987 WC Gold

~ 1988 Oly Gold

~ Euro (Gold x 3), Chicago (2x), Boston (3x), London, Rotterdam, Tokyo, Osaka (won 14 of 21 Marathons)

3. Naoko Takhashi

~ 2000 Oly Gold

~ Berlin (2x), Nagoya (2x), Asia (Gold), Tokyo, WR/OR

4. Joan Benoit-Samuelson

~ 1984 Oly Gold

~ Boston (2x), Chicago, WR/OR

5. Lidia Simon (Romania)

~ 1997 WC Bronze

~ 1999 WC Bronze

~ 2000 Oly Silver

~ 2001 WC Gold

~ 2007 WC 5th

6. Grete Waitz (Norway)

~ 1983 WC Gold

~ 1984 Oly Silver

~ New York (9x), London, WR

7. Mizuki Noguchi

~ 2003 WC Silver

~ 2004 Oly Gold

8. Paula Radcliffe (GBR)

~ 2005 WC Gold

~ London (3x), New York (2x), Chicago, WR

9. Constantina Tomescu-Dita (ROM)

~ 2005 WC Bronze

~ 2008 Oly Gold

10. Yuko Arimori (JPN)

~ 1992 Oly Silver

~ 1996 Oly Bronze

11. Katrin Dorre (GER)

~ 1988 Oly Bronze

~ 1991 WC Bronze

~ 1993 WC 6th

12. Manuela Machado (ROM)

~ 1993 WC Silver

~ 1995 WC Gold

~ 1997 WC Silver

~ 1999 WC 7th

13. Tegla Loroupe (KEN)

~ Rotterdam (3x), New York (2x), Berlin, London, Rome, WR

15 years ago 10/14/2008 12:21pm EDT

re: rojo

rojo wrote:
I found an interesting article by Phil Hersh on the LA Times website where he ranks the top 10 female marathoners in history.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2008/10/ranking-womens.html
I highly encourage you to read his article and his reasoning.
His top 10 are:
1. Catherine Ndereba
2. Grete Waitz
3. Paula Radcliffe
4. Joan Benoit Samuelson
5. Rosa Mota
6. Lidia Simon
7. Katrin Dorre
8. Ingrid Kristiansen
9. Valentina Yegorova
10. Naoko Takahashi
What does everyone else think? I'd never really thought of who is the greatest but his article raises some interesting questions. The top 3 women seem to have flaws to their resumes as Joanie is the only won with the world record and Olympic gold medal.
While admitting it's basically an impossible task, particularly when you are comparing people from different eras, I think coming up with a top 10 for the women's marathon is seriously the perfect exercise.
On some level, I would say I have no problem arguing that Radcliffe is the greatest ever despite her Olympic failures as Ndereba has never won Olympic gold either. I mean her absolute performances are leaps above everyone else's.
But maybe I could be convinced othterwise.
It's too late (1:30 am) for me to really analyze this but I thought I'd get the discussion going.
Full article:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2008/10/ranking-womens.html

Rojo, Who would you rank as the greatest male 800 M runner of all time?

I was thinking Kipketer is along the line of Catherine Ndereba who doesnt have a gold but has the credentials to be ranked #1 on that list

15 years ago 10/14/2008 1:57pm EDT

re: POTUS)*

POTUS)* wrote:
I would have ranked Radcliffe ahead of Ndereba, until this year. Ndereba has defeated Radcliffe at the last two Olympics by tremendous margins.
1. Catherine Ndereba (Kenya)
~ 2003 WC Gold
~ 2004 Oly Silver
~ 2005 WC Silver
~ 2007 WC Gold
~ 2008 Oly Silver
~ Boston (4x), Chicago (2x), Osaka
2. Rosa Mota (Portugal)
~ 1983 WC 4th
~ 1984 Oly Bronze
~ 1987 WC Gold
~ 1988 Oly Gold
~ Euro (Gold x 3), Chicago (2x), Boston (3x), London, Rotterdam, Tokyo, Osaka (won 14 of 21 Marathons)
3. Lidia Simon (Romania)
~ 1997 WC Bronze
~ 1999 WC Bronze
~ 2000 Oly Silver
~ 2001 WC Gold
~ 2007 WC 5th
4. Naoko Takhashi
~ 2000 Oly Gold
~ Berlin (2x), Nagoya (2x), Asia (Gold), Tokyo, WR/OR
5. Joan Benoit-Samuelson
~ 1984 Oly Gold
~ Boston (2x), Chicago, WR/OR
6. Grete Waitz (Norway)
~ 1983 WC Gold
~ 1984 Oly Silver
~ New York (9x), London, WR
7. Mizuki Noguchi
~ 2003 WC Silver
~ 2004 Oly Gold
8. Paula Radcliffe (GBR)
~ 2005 WC Gold
~ London (3x), New York (2x), Chicago, WR
9. Constantina Tomescu-Dita (ROM)
~ 2005 WC Bronze
~ 2008 Oly Gold
10. Yuko Arimori (JPN)
~ 1992 Oly Silver
~ 1996 Oly Bronze
11. Katrin Dorre (GER)
~ 1988 Oly Bronze
~ 1991 WC Bronze
~ 1993 WC 6th
12. Manuela Machado (ROM)
~ 1993 WC Silver
~ 1995 WC Gold
~ 1997 WC Silver
~ 1999 WC 7th
13. Tegla Loroupe (KEN)
~ Rotterdam (3x), New York (2x), Berlin, London, Rome, WR

so before the OG you would rank PR ahead of CN - meaning PR would have been your number one? But after the OG, PR is only the 8th best ever?

You, sir, are nuts.

15 years ago 10/14/2008 2:07pm EDT

re: YOU ARE NUTS

Yes, you know why? Because Radcliffe had beat her head-to-head, but to place 23rd at the Olympic Marathon is something Ndereba has never come close to doing.. not even in an open marathon.

15 years ago 10/14/2008 4:12pm EDT

re: POTUS)*

You do know that Paula was injured don't you?

15 years ago 10/24/2008 6:46am EDT

re: POTUS)*

Catherine Ndereba shows a remarkable level of consistency at global champs level but, unless she wins the Olympics or breaks the WR I think her name will be forgotten in 10 years time by all but a few.

The names of Grete Waitz,Paula Radcliffe, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Ingrid Kristiansen and Naoko Takahashi will live on and one of these must be the current number 1.

15 years ago 10/24/2008 6:58am EDT

re: El Dorado

According to your comment on Ndereba, than what will make the names of Waitz, Radcliffe, and Kristiansen live on if they have not won Olympic Gold?

15 years ago 10/24/2008 10:26am EDT

re: El Dorado

El Dorado wrote:
Catherine Ndereba shows a remarkable level of consistency at global champs level but, unless she wins the Olympics or breaks the WR I think her name will be forgotten in 10 years time by all but a few.
The names of Grete Waitz,Paula Radcliffe, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Ingrid Kristiansen and Naoko Takahashi will live on and one of these must be the current number 1.

You're not the first on this thread to screw this up, but Catherine did set a WR - which she held for a little over a year. She missed by a week being the first woman under 2:20, by the way too.

I think women's marathoning must be divided into two eras: pre-LA OG and post-. Before 84 the greatest was Waitz, hands down. And, although JBS is one of my all-time favorite runners, I believe Catherine deserves to be number 1. If Paula somehow wins a medal in London, I'd move her up to number one. Until then she's most similar to another British great - Jim Peters.

15 years ago 11/02/2008 10:48am EST

re: Bazza

Nderaba is great, but not the greatest. That title must go to Paula.

2002

1st London 2:18:56

1st Chicago 2:17:18

2003

1st London 2:15:25

2004

DNF Olympics, Athens

1st New York 2:23:10

2005

1st London 2:17:42

1st World Champs 2:20:57

2007

1st New York 2:23:09

2008

23rd Olympics, Beijing 2:32:38

1st New York 2:23.55

10 marathons, eight victories.

despite the disappointment in the OG I still dont' see anyone with a better overall record that Paula.

15 years ago 11/02/2008 11:00am EST

re: Bazza

Paula IS the greatest. End thread.

15 years ago 11/02/2008 11:09am EST

re: fiber boy 187

After today's race it is clear that Kara Goucher should be on that list. 7 or 8th place all time.

15 years ago 11/02/2008 11:19am EST

re: Bazza

I think the top 4 (Ndereba, Benoit-Samuelson, Waitz, Radcliffe)are pretty clear, it would be extremely difficult to say who is number one. In spite of the fact that Puala is the world record holder, she only made my top-4 because of her NYC victory today. In the marathon, victories are far more important than times.

15 years ago 11/02/2008 11:19am EST

re: dogg45

dogg45 wrote:
After today's race it is clear that Kara Goucher should be on that list. 7 or 8th place all time.

Funny stuff.

15 years ago 11/02/2008 11:26am EST

re: fiber boy 187

agreed.

all that matters is wins and times.

the olympics are f***ing hysterical showbiz.

15 years ago 11/02/2008 11:39am EST

re: rojo

It's always amusing to watch the ways in which otherwise intelligent people try to find ways to keep Radcliffe out of the top spot when this question arises. Imagine if the question were "Who is the best QB in 49ers history?" and watching someone try to claim it was Steve Young or Jeff Garcia for some arcane reason.

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