Arkansas alum Julia Paternain made history for Uruguay by winning a bronze medal in the women’s marathon at the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo. This marks Uruguay’s first-ever medal at a World Athletics Championship in any event.
Paternain, representing Uruguay, finished third with a time of 2:27:23. Earlier this year, she set the national record for Uruguay with a 2:27:09 marathon and also broke the national half-marathon record with a 1:12.01 performance in Houston.
“It’s great, Uruguay is such a small country, it’s three million people, it’s tiny,” explained Paternain. “So, it really means a lot, it’s a very prideful country. Everyone back home has been sending me messages. It’s been full of support.
“It was a really great experience. It’s great for younger athletes that they have a role model out there. Even if you’re from one of these smaller countries, it doesn’t matter. You still have to put in the work and you can do it.”
Her bronze is also notable as the first marathon medal won by any female athlete from Latin America at the World Championships.
“I could not believe it when I crossed that finish line,” stated Paternain. “I had no idea I was in third. I also wasn’t sure that was the finish line. I wanted to make sure.
“I was in so much shock, I really cannot believe it. I think I was just focusing on really making sure I ran that race smart and trying to make sure I ran my own race and pick people off as the race went on.”
The gold medal went to Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir (2:24:43), followed closely by Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa (2:24:45). American Susanna Sullivan placed fourth after leading much of the race with her time of 2:28:17.
“Around halfway there was a pack of 10 or 15 women ahead of me,” noted Paternain. “Slowly that pack started to break up. I was trying to make sure each of my miles was consistent.
“When I got into the stadium I thought I was sixth or fifth. I finished and I could not believe it. I was terrified that wasn’t the finish and I still had another 400m, even though there were signs everywhere that said 400m to go. I didn’t quite trust it.”
A total of 63 runners completed the race while ten did not finish. The start time for the marathon was moved up by half an hour due to high temperatures and humidity in Tokyo; despite starting at 7:30 a.m., conditions remained challenging with temperatures reaching up to 84 degrees Fahrenheit during the event.
“I came into this race with three goals,” said Paternain. “The C goal was to finish the race, because it’s extremely hot and humid. So, it was just get to the finish line. The B goal was maybe top 30. The A goal was top eight.
“Really, though, it was just about the process. I was really just trying to respect the distance since the marathon is tough to run, it’s 26.2 miles. So, I really wasn’t thinking about my place. I knew there were going to be hills in the last 5k. Then it was about trying to pick off people as it goes.
“I ran my own race and ended up with a bronze.”
In other preliminary events at Worlds this week, Nikki Hiltz advanced automatically to semifinals in her heat for the women’s 1,500 meters (4:01:73), while Ackera Nugent won her heat in the women’s 100-meter hurdles (12:54) aided by light wind conditions.
