It was supposed to be a race for marathoning heavyweights Cosmas Ndeti, Moses Tanui, Martin Fiz and Tegla Loroupe.
Instead, the New York City Marathon turned into a celebration for the unheralded.Giacomo Leone, a 25-year-old policeman from Italy, and Anuta Catuna, 28, from Romania, were the men's and women's winners Sunday, leaving the expected top contenders far back.
Ndeti, Tanui and Fiz never were among the men's leaders, and the projected 1-2 finish by Kenyans never materialized. Instead, an Ethiopian with an intriguing runner's name, Turbo Tumo, was the runner-up, with Kenyans Joseph Kamau, a first-time marathoner, and John Kagwe, third and fourth, respectively.
Ndeti, the three-time Boston Marathon winner from Kenya, placed sixth, just ahead of Fiz, the 1995 world champion from Spain. Tanui, not among the top 100 finishers, ended up in the emergency room of Harlem Hospital, where he was given fluids.
Loroupe, the overwhelming favorite to win her third consecutive women's title, was on course-record pace early before fading over the second half and finishing seventh. After the race, she was removed on a stretcher to the medical tent suffering from dizziness.
"I tried to control the race, but when I felt dizzy I was tired," she said later after being taken to her hotel. "I couldn't control my legs after 20 kilometers (12.4 miles). I had a problem with my head. I had a headache.
"My muscles are OK. I'm not exhausted."
Leone won in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 54 seconds on a perfect day for running, with the temperature in the mid-40s, low humidity and a wind from the west. Leone was the first Italian winner since 1986, when Gianni Poli followed countryman's Orlando Pizzolato's 1984 and 1985 victories.
In the 1990s, however, the performances by the Italians had declined, with no finisher in the top five in the past six years.
"When the other Italians won, I was a little child," said Leone, who pulled away in the final 3 miles and recorded his career-best time in his first marathon victory.
"I saw it on TV. Today, I remembered the New York City Marathon and I prayed to God.
"The finish of the race was very hard."
Leone made it look easy, though, beating Tumo (2:10:09) by 15 seconds and Kamau (2:10:40) by 46 seconds.
Leone finished second in last year's Venice Marathon but decided to skip last week's Venice race and come to New York "because the field was very tough and I wanted good international experience."
He got more than he bargained for - the biggest victory of his career.
Running in her third marathon this year, Catuna won by coming from behind.
She stayed off the blistering early pace set by Loroupe and another Kenyan, Joyce Chepchumba, before coming on strong late and winning in a Romanian record 2:28:18, 24 seconds ahead of Franca Fiacconi of Italy, a marathon winner three weeks ago.
"I ran slowly in the first part," said Catuna, the fourth-place finisher in New York in 1994. "Then, I tried to run fast ... fast ... fast.
"Now, I win. I am very happy. It's very important."
Catuna, who finished 15th in the marathon at Osaka, Japan, and 44th at the Olympics, arrived only Saturday night from Boulder, Colo., where she had trained for the past two months.
Chepchumba wound up third in 2:29:38, and the struggling Loroupe, whose mother and sister made their first visit to the United States to watch her run, was timed in 2:37:19.
Kim Jones of Spokane, Wash., the women's runner-up in 1989-90 but a non-finisher in 1992, 1993 and 1994, was the only American in the elite men's or women's field and placed a distant fourth in 2:34:36.
"It was good to finish," said Jones, who was using a new inhaler to combat her chronic asthma. "I couldn't make a move because it was windy ... there was a headwind. I was fighting the wind."
A little-known Algerian, Hamid Oubadriss, set the pace for the men through the first 11 miles, leaving the big names at least 1 minute back at several mile markers.
Eventually, the race developed into a four-man battle among Leone, Tumo, Kamau and 1993 New York City Marathon champion Andres Espinosa of Mexico. Espinosa wound up fifth.
The women's race was dominated by Loroupe and Chepchumba early as they pulled away from the rest of the field. But slowly the others reeled them in.
The winners each received $30,000 plus a new car. Leone also got a $20,000 bonus for breaking 2:10 and Catuna got a $10,000 bonus for running under 2:29.
Leone's prize money nearly tripled the annual salary he earns as a policeman - $18,000.