Swiss marathon man wins silver

Keystone

Marathon runner, Viktor Röthlin, has saved face for Switzerland at the European Athletics Championships in Göteborg, Sweden, by winning silver in the men's marathon.

The other big Swiss hopeful – Alexander Martinez in the men’s triple jump – failed to live up to expectations.

Röthlin completed the race in 2 hours 11 minutes and 50 seconds, 18 seconds behind Italy’s Stefano Baldini. Julio Rey of Spain came third (2:12:37).

It was the best result in Röthlin’s career so far. The 31-year-old Swiss champion only turned professional at the beginning of the year. He came seventh in this year’s New York City marathon.

In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, he failed to finish, falling after 32 kilometres.

But he trained meticulously this year, spending nine months in Kenya and the first part of the summer at high altitude in Switzerland’s Engadine Valley.

Cuban-born Martinez finished ninth in Saturday’s triple jump final. His longest jump was 16.8m after three attempts.

The Olympic champion and local hero, Christian Olsson, won the gold medal with a best jump of 17.67m. It was his second European title in the event.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

Men’s marathon race results:
Stefan Baldini, Italy, 2:11:32
Viktor Röthlin, Switzerland, 2:11.50
Julio Rey, Spain, 2:12:37