Strintzos eyes Olympic berth after fifth finish in New York Marathon

Australia's Haftu Strintzos has taken a giant step towards the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles by finishing fifth at the New York City Marathon, the year's final and arguably toughest major.Strintzos crossed the line in 2:06:34, only 33 seconds behind Sweden's Andreas Almgren, who won on his marathon debut in 2:06:01. He was also just 14 seconds off his Australian record of 2:06:20, set at the Gold Coast Marathon in July."I am happy with the performance today as it is my second race ever at a world major," said Strintzos."My focus is always on performance, and I gave myself a shot to get on the podium."Australia's Haftu Strintzos has taken a giant step towards the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles by finishing fifth at the New York City Marathon, the year's final and arguably toughest major.Strintzos crossed the line in 2:06:34, only 33 seconds behind Sweden's Andreas Almgren, who won on his marathon debut in 2:06:01. He was also just 14 seconds off his Australian record of 2:06:20, set at the Gold Coast Marathon in July."I am happy with the performance today as it is my second race ever at a world major," said Strintzos."Close, but not quite there yet."Under World Athletics' LA28 qualification system, a top-five finish at a Platinum Label marathon during the qualifying window counts as meeting the Olympic entry standard.The window opened on 1 November, so Strintzos's result counts, although Olympic places remain subject to selection by Australian Athletics, which will happen in 2028."I fought all the way to the finish line to secure a fifth-place finish and it's exciting to get the auto qualifier for the Olympics," he said.The 27-year-old was one of six men to break 2:07 in New York overnight, compared with seven in the previous 54 editions of the race combined.Splits shared by his Adelaide-based coach Adam Didyk show Strintzos ran a patient, controlled race with a strong negative split. He went through halfway in 64:06 and ran the second half 1:38 faster, in 62:28.His opening 5km was his slowest of the race, at 15:34, or about 3:07 per kilometre. He settled to roughly 3:00 per km between the 10 and 20km markers, before lifting the pace through the middle stages. His last 2.2km was his quickest of the race, at 2:52 per km.That closing speed is what Didyk has said Strintzos will need to be competitive at world championship or Olympic level."The long-term goal is to develop Haftu into a championship performer, an athlete who gets it right when it counts," said Didyk."Championship marathons are won by racing smart, being patient and having something left over the last 10 kilometres. Today was a big step in that direction."The result came on the challenging point-to-point route from Staten Island to Central Park, famous for its bridges, crowds and tactical racing rather than fast times. Athletes commonly put New York a few minutes slower than flatter courses such as Valencia, Berlin or Chicago."Our plan coming into New York was clear: race for a top-five finish. We weren't chasing a time," said Didyk."Today was a good example of what that racing looks like."Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui claimed her second women's title in three years, running 2:24:36 to edge clear of defending champion Hellen Obiri late in the race."My focus is always on performance, and I gave myself a shot to get on the podium," she said.