She didn't win a medal, but Joanne Dow of Manchester gave a golden effort at the Summer Olympic Games yesterday.
Dow finished 31st in the women's 20-kilometer (12.4 miles) race walk in Beijing yesterday. Her official time was 1 hour, 34 minutes, 15 seconds in a field of 48 competitors.
Dow said before the race that she "was not in medal contention,'' but set and met her goal of competing against the world's best.
She started the race off slowly but gradually made a late run that produced a result consistent with some of the previous international races she was involved in over her prestigious career.
In rain from the start on a course that had many puddles along the way, Dow got off to a slow start, 42nd in a field of 48 in 9 minutes, 13 seconds just two-kilometers into the race.
She maintained that standing after four-kilometers (18 minutes, 42 seconds) and six-kilometers (28:04) before kicking into another gear. She walked a 9:19 time from the six-kilometer mark to the eight-kilometer mark, posting a 37:23 time to that point for 37th place.
Gaining momentum, Dow reached the halfway mark (10 kilometers) nudging her way into 35th with a 46:44 time and showed no signs of slowing down. After 12 kilometers she remained in 35th place at 56:08 and was just 56 seconds behind Claire Woods of Australia for 29th place.
Dow, the oldest competitor in the field at age 44, continued to climb as she was 31st overall at the 14-kilometer mark with an overall time of 1:05.37.
It was at this juncture of the race where Dow was bunched up with Xinou Evaggelia of Greece (1:05:05, 28th place), Tolstaya Svetlana (1:05:05) of Kazakhstan and Kim Mijeong (1:05:20) of Korea. The 14-kilometer mark also saw officials disqualify three competitors for illegal lifts along the course.
She walked a 9 minute, 32-second time interval, reaching the 16-kilometer mark at 1:15:09, still good for 31st place and still within reach of 29th behind Mijeong (1:14:51) and Svetlana (1:14:46).
But over the last four kilometers Dow couldn't move any higher, but still held her own with a respectable finish against a quality field of race walkers.
Entering the games, Dow had talked and written about being realistic as far as winning an Olympic medal.
She said she wanted to win more than anything in the world, but explained her chances of returning home with a medal were slim to none.
"I try to make people understand that in Beijing, I'm going to be racing against some of the top walkers in the world,'' said Dow days being journeying to China. "I've been racing for a long time and have experience, but I didn't start competing until after I had my children. Some of the women I will be competing against in Beijing have made race-walking their life. Some are not married, some have no children and some who are married and have kids never get to see their families. Many have traveled the world competing in international races on a circuit much like you see with road running athletes.''
In International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) 20-kilometer race walks, Dow finished 53rd in Mezidon-Canon, France (1999 World Race Walking Cup, 1:38:08), 50th in Turin, Italy (2002 World Race Walking Cup, 1:41:00), 24th in Paris (2003 World Championships in Athletics) and 34th in La Coruna, Spain (2006 World Race Walking Cup).
She won the Pan-Am Games Race Walking Cup in 1998, finished fifth a year later in the same event and won a bronze medal in the 2003 Pan-Am Games. She also had a 61st place finish in the IAAF 10-kilometer World Race Walking Cup in 47:23 in Podebrady, Czech Republic.
"The competition in the Czech Republic, Spain and France is pretty much going to be same in Beijing,'' said Dow before leaving for China. "I realize that my best time may not be good enough for medal contention and I'm OK with that. I just want to compete, finish the race and be respectable.''
Dow further said she didn't agree with the mindset of some who say it's "not good enough unless you win the gold. That bothers me whenever I hear that. I have the upmost respect for any Olympian, be it in sailing, archery, equestrian, whatever. I do because I know what its taken me to get to this point. Getting to the Olympics means something special and I just don't agree it doesn't mean anything unless you win the gold medal.''
Dow's 12-year journey towards Olympian status, which included frustration and disappointments that have been well documented along the way, was finally achieved earlier last month when she won the 20-km race walk at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
Before leaving Eugene, Dow summed up her feelings that day by saying "Ever since I was a kid I always wanted to represent the United States in the Olympics. I might be the oldest (44-years-old) track and field athlete this year, but I made it. I don't know what's going to happen in Beijing, but I feel as if I've already won the gold medal with this win (Olympic Trials) today.''
Dow said sharing the Olympic experience with her family was the meaningful to her as, through fund-raising efforts, she traveled to China with her family (husband Tim, daughter Hannah, son Tim Jr., and mother Fran).
She also said before leaving for China how emotional it was for her to receive support and love for many in the community and throughout the state.
"I started to cry because of the overwhelming support I've received,'' said Dow. "Well-wishers have sent cards, flowers, even written out checks donating money for the trip. I want to thank them all for allowing my family a chance to share this wonderful experience with me.''
