Lisa Jane Weightman (born 16 January 1979) is an Australian long distance runner and four time Olympian who specializes in the marathon event. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics she came 26th in the Women's marathon with a time of 2:34.19, 7 minutes behind the eventual winner, Peres Jepchirchir.[2]

Lisa Weightman
Weightman with her nephew in Melbourne for the 2008 Olympic homecoming parade
Personal information
Full nameLisa Jane Weightman
Born (1979-01-16) 16 January 1979 (age 45)
Melbourne, Australia[1]
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight44 kg (97 lb)
Sport
Country Australia
SportAthletics
EventMarathon
Coached byRichard Telford
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Delhi Marathon
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gold Coast Marathon
IAAF World Cross Country Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Edinburgh Team

Weightman represented Australia in the marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. She won her first marathon race in 2010, setting a personal best time of 2:28:48 at the Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon.

She has also competed at the IAAF World Road Running Championships and the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, winning a team bronze in the latter competition in 2008.

Career

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Weightman started out as a track runner but had her first success in cross country running, winning the under-23 section of the national championships in 2003. She took part in the Chiba Ekiden road relay competition the following year and finished ninth. In 2006, she became a double national champion when she topped the podium in the 10,000 metres and half marathon events, and she returned to the Chiba Ekiden to improve to fourth place in her stage.[3]

Her first international championships appearance was at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships where she placed thirty-seventh overall.[4] Weightman ended the year by finishing second in the 10,000 metres at the Zatopek Classic behind New Zealander Jessica Ruthe.[5] (Zatopek is named after the Czech distance running great Emil Zatopek and was first held in 1961. It is one of the most prestigious track races on Australian soil).[6] Weightman represented Australia twice in 2007: taking forty-second place at the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and thirty-third at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships.[7]

Weightman won a world championship medal at the 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships[8] and she and Benita Johnson helped lead the Australian women to the team bronze. She made her marathon debut soon afterwards,[9] finishing thirteenth in the women's race with a time of 2:32:32. This performance gained her selection for the women's marathon race at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she finished thirty-third with a time of 2:34:16, the second best Australian performance after Johnson.[7]

Weightman improved her best world cross country performance at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing seventeenth and heading the Australian team to seventh place in the rankings.[10][11] At the 2009 Christchurch Half Marathon, she was the first past the post to record her first major win on the road running circuit.[12] She competed at her first World Championships in Athletics later that season as Australia's only participant in the women's marathon; she placed eighteenth overall and set a new personal best over the distance with a time of 2:30:42.[13]

She improved further in the marathon at the start of the following year, dominating the Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon from the 15 km mark to the finish. She knocked almost two minutes off her previous best time to win in 2:28:48, making her the first Australian to win the race.[14] She was selected for the event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. She fell away from the leading pack on two occasions but managed to make up the deficit both times and won the bronze medal in a time of 2:35.25, although she had to be taken from the finish line in a wheelchair due to her exhaustion.[15] She won the 10 km run of the Gold Coast Marathon-event on 1 July 2012 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia finishing in front of Emma Moffatt.[16] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she finished in 17th place.[17] She came 31st in the marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympics in 2:34:41 and 26th in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[18] She achieved a PB of 2:24:00 and came 15th at the 2022 Berlin Marathon. [19]

Personal life

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Outside of competitive running, Weightman is a business consultant for IBM and she was the recipient of the 2000 Award for Business Excellence from The Age.[3] She is the daughter of former footballer Peter Weightman and married her training partner, Lachlan McArthur, in 2008.[20]

Personal bests

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Event Time (h:m:s) Venue Date
10 kilometres 31:50 Melbourne, Australia 28 February 2021
20 kilometres 1:10:51 Debrecen, Hungary 8 October 2006
Half marathon 1:08:48 Sunshine Coast, Australia 4 August 2019
Marathon 2:23:15 Osaka, Japan 26 February 2023
  • All information taken from World Athletics profile.

Competition record

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Year Competition Venue Position Event
2006 World Road Running Championships Debrecen, Hungary 37th 20 kilometres
2007 World Cross Country Championships Mombasa, Kenya 42nd Senior race
World Road Running Championships Udine, Italy 33rd Half marathon
2008 World Cross Country Championships Edinburgh, Scotland 20th Senior individual
3rd Senior team
Olympic Games Beijing, China 33rd Marathon
2009 World Cross Country Championships Amman, Jordan 17th Senior individual
7th Senior team
World Championships in Athletics Berlin, Germany 18th Marathon
2010 Nagano Marathon Nagano, Japan 1st Marathon 2:28:48
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 17th Marathon 2:27:32
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 17th Marathon 2:34:41
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 2nd Marathon 2:33:23
2021 Olympic Games Sapporo, Japan 26th Marathon 2:34:19
2022 Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 15th Marathon 2:24:00
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 16th Marathon 2:30:50

Road race wins

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References

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  1. ^ "Lisa Weightman". gc2018.com. Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Athletics WEIGHTMAN Lisa - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Lisa Weightman". athletics.com.au. Athletics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  4. ^ 20 Kilometres – W Final Archived 25 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  5. ^ Turner, Chris (14 December 2006). Rupp splashes to Zatopek Classic win Archived 25 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  6. ^ "Zatopek: 10 - The greatest running race you've never heard of". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b Weightman Lisa Jane Archived 7 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  8. ^ Official Team Results Senior Race – W Archived 10 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF (30 March 2008). Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  9. ^ Johnson, Len (9 March 2008). Weightman's wait worth it Archived 10 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine. The Age. Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  10. ^ Official Team Results Senior Race – W Archived 2 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF (28 March 2009). Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  11. ^ Johnson, Len (28 March 2009). Florence Kiplagat ends Kenya's long wait for another senior women's title – Amman 2009 Archived 31 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  12. ^ Lisa Weightman Takes Out Christchurch Half Marathon Archived 11 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Ascend Sport (2009). Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  13. ^ Ovadia, Edward (5 November 2009). Australia’s Top Marathon Runner – Lisa Weightman Archived 15 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Runner's Tribe. Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  14. ^ Nakamura, Ken (18 April 2010). Chelimo and Weightman take Nagano Marathon titles Archived 25 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 21 April 2010.
  15. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (14 October 2010). Double marathon triumph for Kenya ends athletics programme at Commonwealth Games Archived 16 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 16 October 2010.
  16. ^ "2012 Gold Coast Airport Marathon". GoldCoast.com. 1 July 2012. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  17. ^ "London 2012 – Women's Marathon". www.olympic.org. IOC. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  18. ^ "Lisa Jane Weightman". www.olympic.org. IOC.
  19. ^ "BERLIN-MARATHON 2022". berlin.r.mikatiming.com. kika timing.
  20. ^ Preston Olympian Lisa Weightman to marry Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Northcote Leader (17 November 2008). Retrieved on 16 October 2010.
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