The decay of Romanian sport is caused, not only by the lack of truly remarkable results, but also by the fact that, in the few cases in which we have an important performance, we are not able to appreciate it in the true sense of the word. In this desolate landscape, the focus is on cheap, cheap subjects.
Alexander Corneschi. PHOTO: The Truth Archive
On Monday, Boston hosted the 128th edition of the marathon hosted by this city. We are talking about an event that started in 1897 and which, every year, divides the city into two categories of people: those who run and those who come to cheer on the runners. Leaving aside the fact that in our country such an approach would be unthinkable for a street running event, it is worth noting that, from a media point of view, the fabulous result recorded by a Romanian in Monday's race also passed us by .
We are talking about Alexandru Corneschi (32 years old) from Botošan. Who crossed the finish line after 2 hours, 16 minutes and 23 seconds. Which means he covered each kilometer at an average pace of 3 minutes and 13 seconds! Such a speed cannot be maintained by 99% of people, not even for a minute. Corneschi, on the other hand, had this speed during the 42.195 kilometers. And his fabulous result placed him in 20th place. The winner of the 2024 Boston Marathon was Sisay Lemma (Ethiopia) with a time of 2 hours, 6 minutes and 17 seconds.
Corneschi, in a select club of Romanian athletics
Even though many hours have passed since the end of the race – the Boston Marathon was also broadcast in Romania, on Eurosport, with the commentary of the couple Adi Dobre – Constantina Diță – the result obtained by Alexandru Corneschi, with a ranking in the Top 20, is non-existent at we!
This incredible situation must be put into context. The Boston Marathon is the most prestigious in the world, and participating in this race is a dream for millions of people. What's more, Boston has a hell of a course, with a lot of hills in the second part. To understand the difficulty of the race, a single detail speaks for itself: in 2023, Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya), considered the best marathoner in the history of mankind, ranked only 6th in Boston. With a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 23 seconds. So, the result achieved by Corneschi now is all the more precious, considering that there can be no comparison term between the training conditions that Kipchoge has and those that are available to our runner. And, despite all that, the 32-year-old Romanian made a brilliant race in the USA!
It should be noted that Alexandru Corneschi is in a select club of Romanian athletics. In the history of the marathon here, only six runners have completed the race in under 2 hours and 14 minutes. Corneschi is one of them, as can be seen below:
*Cătălin Andreica – 2 hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds in 1978
*Marius Ionescu – 2 hours and 13 minutes in 2016
*Gyorgy Marko – 2 hours, 13 minutes and 7 seconds in 1993
*Nicolae Mustăță – 2 hours, 13 minutes and 27 seconds in 1968
*Alexandru Corneschi – 2 hours, 13 minutes and 39 seconds in 2022
*Nicolae Soare – 2 hours, 13 minutes and 29 seconds in 2022
