Solange Jesus confident for the Tokyo Marathon

Portuguese marathon runners Solange Jesus (pictured) and Susana Santos today expressed confidence for the longest race of the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships. Solange Jesus is the only Portuguese athlete who, heading into the 42.195-kilometer race that begins tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. today in Portugal), has already competed in a marathon in 2025, achieving a time of 2:29.39 hours in April at the European Road Championships in Brussels. The 38-year-old Sporting de Braga marathon runner, whose personal best was 2:27.30 hours, achieved in Seville last year, is confident about her second World Championship appearance, after finishing 60th in Budapest 2023 (2:45.08). The athlete from Oliveira do Bairro also competed in the half marathon at the Rome 2024 European Championships, finishing in 27th place (1:12.03), after withdrawing from her debut in major international competitions, the marathon at the Munich 2022 European Championships. "I'm calm and excited at the same time. I've worked hard to be here, and I feel good and prepared. My goal is to run a solid marathon, give my all, and fight for the best possible positions. I know I have strong legs, although the conditions will be very difficult here. All of this is the result of months of dedication, and now I just have to believe and enjoy the race," said Solange Jesus. Susana Godinho Santos arrives at the marathon without any benchmarks this year, but with a personal best, thanks to the 2:24.46 achieved in Valencia at the end of last year, after her Olympic debut at Paris 2024, finishing 56th (2:35.57). "I'm approaching this marathon with good feelings, as my preparation went as I hoped. The goal is to achieve the best possible finish, as it's difficult to run for a time in the conditions that will be present on race day," she predicted. The 33-year-old athlete from Maia, who represents Recreio Desportivo de Águeda, will make her debut in the world championships, almost a year after finishing 43rd in the half marathon in Rome'2024 (01:13.31), which she arrives at in 269th place in the world rankings, well ahead of Solange Jesus (357th).

77 athletes from 44 countries are registered for the marathon of the 20th edition of the Tokyo 2025 World Championships, which ends at the Japan National Stadium. Portugal has two gold medals in the women's marathon, won by national record holder Rosa Mota in Rome 1987 and by Manuela Machado in Gothenburg 1995, who also took silver in Stuttgart 1993 and Athens 1997.

Portuguese marathon runners Solange Jesus (pictured) and Susana Santos today expressed confidence for the longest race of the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships. Solange Jesus is the only Portuguese athlete who, heading into the 42.195-kilometer race that begins tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. today in Portugal), has already competed in a marathon in 2025, achieving a time of 2:29.39 hours in April at the European Road Championships in Brussels. The 38-year-old Sporting de Braga marathon runner, whose personal best was 2:27.30 hours, achieved in Seville last year, is confident about her second World Championship appearance, after finishing 60th in Budapest 2023 (2:45.08). The athlete from Oliveira do Bairro also competed in the half marathon at the Rome 2024 European Championships, finishing in 27th place (1:12.03), after withdrawing from her debut in major international competitions, the marathon at the Munich 2022 European Championships. "I'm calm and excited at the same time. I've worked hard to be here, and I feel good and prepared. My goal is to run a solid marathon, give my all, and fight for the best possible positions. I know I have strong legs, although the conditions will be very difficult here. All of this is the result of months of dedication, and now I just have to believe and enjoy the race," said Solange Jesus. Susana Godinho Santos arrives at the marathon without any benchmarks this year, but with a personal best, thanks to the 2:24.46 achieved in Valencia at the end of last year, after her Olympic debut at Paris 2024, finishing 56th (2:35.57). "I'm approaching this marathon with good feelings, as my preparation went as I hoped. The goal is to achieve the best possible finish, as it's difficult to run for a time in the conditions that will be present on race day," she predicted. The 33-year-old athlete from Maia, who represents Recreio Desportivo de Águeda, will make her debut in the world championships, almost a year after finishing 43rd in the half marathon in Rome'2024 (01:13.31), which she arrives at in 269th place in the world rankings, well ahead of Solange Jesus (357th).

77 athletes from 44 countries are registered for the marathon of the 20th edition of the Tokyo 2025 World Championships, which ends at the Japan National Stadium. Portugal has two gold medals in the women's marathon, won by national record holder Rosa Mota in Rome 1987 and by Manuela Machado in Gothenburg 1995, who also took silver in Stuttgart 1993 and Athens 1997.

Portuguese marathon runners Solange Jesus (pictured) and Susana Santos today expressed confidence for the longest race of the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships. Solange Jesus is the only Portuguese athlete who, heading into the 42.195-kilometer race that begins tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. today in Portugal), has already competed in a marathon in 2025, achieving a time of 2:29.39 hours in April at the European Road Championships in Brussels. The 38-year-old Sporting de Braga marathon runner, whose personal best was 2:27.30 hours, achieved in Seville last year, is confident about her second World Championship appearance, after finishing 60th in Budapest 2023 (2:45.08). The athlete from Oliveira do Bairro also competed in the half marathon at the Rome 2024 European Championships, finishing in 27th place (1:12.03), after withdrawing from her debut in major international competitions, the marathon at the Munich 2022 European Championships. "I'm calm and excited at the same time. I've worked hard to be here, and I feel good and prepared. My goal is to run a solid marathon, give my all, and fight for the best possible positions. I know I have strong legs, although the conditions will be very difficult here. All of this is the result of months of dedication, and now I just have to believe and enjoy the race," said Solange Jesus. Susana Godinho Santos arrives at the marathon without any benchmarks this year, but with a personal best, thanks to the 2:24.46 achieved in Valencia at the end of last year, after her Olympic debut at Paris 2024, finishing 56th (2:35.57). "I'm approaching this marathon with good feelings, as my preparation went as I hoped. The goal is to achieve the best possible finish, as it's difficult to run for a time in the conditions that will be present on race day," she predicted. The 33-year-old athlete from Maia, who represents Recreio Desportivo de Águeda, will make her debut in the world championships, almost a year after finishing 43rd in the half marathon in Rome'2024 (01:13.31), which she arrives at in 269th place in the world rankings, well ahead of Solange Jesus (357th).

77 athletes from 44 countries are registered for the marathon of the 20th edition of the Tokyo 2025 World Championships, which ends at the Japan National Stadium. Portugal has two gold medals in the women's marathon, won by national record holder Rosa Mota in Rome 1987 and by Manuela Machado in Gothenburg 1995, who also took silver in Stuttgart 1993 and Athens 1997.