María del Carmen Cárdenas

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María del Carmen Cárdenas
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Mexico
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1987 Indianapolis Marathon

María del Carmen Cárdenas (born 13 February 1959) is a Mexican former long-distance runner who competed in the marathon.

She emerged as a road runner in 1983 when she won the inaugural edition of the Mexico City Marathon in a time of 3:05:09 hours.[1] She subsequently gained an invite to the Los Angeles Marathon in 1984 and placed sixth, before going on to win the Cleveland Marathon in a new best of 2:41:13 hours (which proved to be a lifetime best).[2] As a result, Cardenas earned a place on the Mexican team for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (alongside two other namesakes María Trujillo and María Luisa Ronquillo) and ended the race in 40th place.[3]

After skipping the 1985 season, Cárdenas returned to the top of the Mexico City Marathon podium in 1986 with a women's course record of 2:42:25 (the second fastest of her career).[2] The women's marathon was added to the Pan American programme and at the 1987 Pan American Games she came away with the gold medal ahead of American and Cuba's .[4] She was one of two Mexican women to take athletics gold that year, alongside walker María Colín.[5][nb]

Her final appearances at high profile marathon competitions came in the United States in the 1988 season. She was fourth at the , won the Sunburst Marathon in South Bend, Indiana and placed third at the San Diego Marathon.[2]

International competitions[]

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles, United States 40th Marathon 2:44:48
1987 Pan American Games Indianapolis, United States 1st Marathon 2:52:06

References[]

  • nb Some sources erroneous state the winner of the women's marathon as María del Carmen Díaz (later a Pan American Games winner on the track) instead of the correct winner, María del Carmen Cárdenas.[4]
  1. ^ Mexico City Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2016-02-10.
  2. ^ a b c Maria Del Carmen Cardenas. ARRS. Retrieved on 2016-02-10.
  3. ^ Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Women's Marathon. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2016-02-10.
  4. ^ a b María Cárdeñas. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2016-02-10.
  5. ^ Pan American Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-10.
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