1.   But Roba, the Olympic marathon champion, was not home free.

2.   Defending Olympic marathon champion Hwang Young-Cho, slowed by two heel operations since the Barcelona Games, just completed a two-week training session in Atlanta.

3.   Gardiner is the world marathon surf ski champion.

4.   One moment, he was the South African marathon champion, a qualifier for the Summer Games.

5.   The brothers have twice been world canoe marathon champions, but the Olympics do not include that event.

6.   The first great marathon champions were Irish and Italian.

7.   Ballantyne is the Caribbean marathon champion.

8.   Boston marathon champion Lameck Aguta was in stable condition Thursday following a weekend accident in which his car struck a pothole.

9.   His chief rivals will be former half marathon champion Khalid Skah of Morocco and two-time runner-up Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa.

10.   Lara Croft is the embodiment of an athletically fit woman with the stamina of a marathon champion.