Tokyo Olympic Marathon
The Rotterdam Marathon, which will be staged in the Netherlands this weekend, is undoubtedly the most important marathon in recent times. As a marathon event sponsored by NN Group, it is naturally indispensable to the "NN Running Team" elite runners!
Led by the Dutch marathon record holder at home and runner-up in the Tokyo Olympics, Abdi Nageeye, and the defending champion of the race, Belgian marathon runner Bashir Abid.
Abdi Nageeye与Bashir Abid
The two Abdi also have deep roots in real life, both were born in Somalia, and the two Abdi are also currently teammates in a training center, and have a long and deep friendship in private. After the two joined hands on the podium at last year's Marathon at the Tokyo Olympics, they are about to stand on the same track again.
Bashir Abdi, who just finished his trip to the Olympics last year, won the 2021 Rotterdam Marathon in October with a time of 2:03:36 and set a new European marathon record.
Also in the first match after the Olympic Games, Abdi Najeye chose the New York City Marathon to be held in November, but as the silver medalist of the Olympic Games, he was expected to be the favorite to win the championship before the race, but he suffered a recurrence of hamstrings injury and finally finished fifth in 2:11:39.
However, Abdi Najeye recently announced on social media that he will challenge the 2:04 result on the track of the 2022 Rotterdam Marathon, and there is no doubt that his goal is not only to reach the podium, perhaps challenging the European record set by Bashir Abdi last year is his real ambition!
From vagrant refugees to national records
Born in March 1989 in the long-war-torn somali capital of Mogadishu, Abdi Najaye came to the Netherlands as a refugee at the age of 6. After four years there, he and his family moved back to Syria and then returned to his hometown of Somalia at the age of 10.
However, Abdi Najaye's hometown did not restore the peace they had hoped for, so his family had to send him back to the Netherlands again, fortunately adopted by a family in Old Brook. The difficult childhood and the turbulent life forged abdi Najayeh's optimistic and strong qualities, while laying a deep foundation of will for his future long-distance running career.
After returning to the Netherlands, he quickly showed his athletic talent, but his earliest project was football, and he began professional long-distance running training until he was 17 years old, even so, it still could not stop him from gradually emerging in long-distance running.
In 2007, as a junior, he won the 1500m at the Universiade, and in 2011 he already had the Dutch titles in the 5000m and 10000m events, and he began to set his sights on the Olympic Games.
In 2015, Abdi Najeye qualified for the Amsterdam Marathon that year, then embarked on his Olympic journey and finished 11th at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Abdi Najayeh at Kaptagat long-distance running camp
After the Rio Olympics, Abdi Najaye came to the Kaptagat long-distance running camp in Kenya and became a fellow disciple of Kipchoge, training under the guidance of coach Patrick Sang and becoming a member of the NN Running Team.
At the Kaptagat long-distance running camp, Abdi Najayeh completed a further improvement in basic endurance, thanks to Coach Patrick Sang's concept of a large training volume.
Najye ran 2:06:17 at the Rotterdam Marathon 2019
It was also at this time that Abdi Najaye's marathon performance was significantly improved, scoring 2:10 for the first time in 2017, completing BP with a time of 2:09:34, and improving his personal BP to 2:06:17 in 2019, which also set a Dutch national marathon record.
Abdi Najaye, who has made some achievements in long-distance running, has not forgotten his past, as well as his hometown, and now Abdi Najeye has set up his own foundation to help young people in poor Somalia have the opportunity to enjoy sports and show their talents.
Change the court and become a Farah teammate
After becoming the national record holder, in more than a year, although he had two 2:07 performances, his performance also fell into a bottleneck that continued to break through.
In order to better prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, Abdi Najaye left Kenya in early 2021 to join the British coach Gary Lough, who is also the husband of former women's marathon world holder Paula Radcliffe, and in this small training camp, there are also long-distance running legend Mo Farah and Belgian marathon record holder Bashir Abdi.
Coming to Coach Gary's training camp, the training content is different from the previous training method of running in Kenya, but the training method of trotting volume and large training intensity such as rhythm running and interval training, and there is no doubt that Abdi Najaye wants exactly this, because he is eager to go further.
However, the increase in training intensity also increases the risk of injury. Abdi Najye suffered from a variety of injuries as he prepared for the Olympics, first with an Achilles tendon injury in the first half of the year and a hamstring injury in May, but fortunately he was freed from the injury six weeks later.
Tokyo Olympics, Dream Podium
After Abdi Najayeh arrived in Japan, the hot weather in Sapporo made him realize that he should prepare, so he deliberately arranged training near noon to adapt himself to the hot weather on the match day, which turned out to be a very wise decision.
In a competitive arena like the Olympic Games, the key to victory is undoubtedly absolute strength, in addition to testing whether the athletes are psychologically strong, and at this point Abdi Najayeh can be said to have confidence!
Before the match, Abdi Najayeh was confident that he had a level of 2:04 in his health, this time his goal was to win a medal, and he accurately estimated that the time of the game would be around 2:09.
For most of the game, Najayer felt relaxed and the rhythm was within his ability. However, on a trip to fetch water, when The French player Morhad Amdouni knocked over a string of water bottles at the water station but "just right" to take the last bottle, Najeye followed him, leaving him and the players behind him without water to drink.
Najaye recalled: "He knocked over all the water bottles and made me scratch a lonely one, and I was particularly angry, but reason told myself, don't think about him, focus on your own game." ”
After 35 kilometers, Kipchoge gradually rode to the dust, and he began to accelerate towards the defense of the title, and everyone knew that no one could stop him. Najaye and several others form a second group, where they will have a final battle for silver and bronze.
When there were 800 meters left in the race, Najeye, who wanted to accelerate the sprint, saw that his teammate Abdi had already cramped and distorted his expression, at this time he showed great friendship, he decided to give up acceleration and chose to accompany teammate Abdi to encourage this teammate who had been encouraging him in training in the past!
In the end, Najeye crossed the finish line at 2:09:58 to win a valuable silver medal, which was also the first Olympic men's marathon medal in the Netherlands in 41 years, teammate Abdi also successfully won a bronze medal, and after 15 years of hard training, Najeye ushered in the best moment of his career.
Four battles rotterdam, and then look forward to a breakthrough
For the Rotterdam Marathon, Najeye can be said to be an absolute light car. In 2015, he participated in the Rotterdam Marathon for the first time, finishing ninth in only 2:12:33, leaving him with tears of regret after the race, when he was bent on qualifying for the Olympic Games.
Two years later, the more stable and mature Najaye returned to Rotterdam, his debut since joining NN Running Team, with a 2:09:34 performance. That race boosted Najeye's confidence and gave him the confidence to compete with the top masters, which also made him the second fastest marathon runner in the Netherlands.
In 2019, after several years of training in Kaptagart, Najaye was full of confidence and embarked on the track of the Rotterdam Marathon for the third time. Training with the world's best marathon runners for a long time has improved his level, and this race has been proven. Najeye finished fourth in 2:06:17 and raised the Dutch marathon record by more than two points.
On 10 April 2022, Najeye was about to embark on the rotterdam marathon for the fourth time, and in preparation for the Rotterdam marathon, Najeye suffered several minor injuries. Although not in good shape and cancelling several planned half-marathons, he was confident in the upcoming Rotterdam Marathon.
Najeye said: "Although this preparation has experienced more pain than when preparing for the Olympic Games, I feel that I am in better shape than then, and I am sure that I can run to 2:04, this time I want to improve my PB. ”
Najeye, currently a personal best of 2:06:17 and currently in fifth place in Europe, will take the top three spots in Europe if he gets his wish to complete sub 2:05, surpassing the former European record set by training partner Mo Fara when he won the title in Chicago in 2018.
The current European record is set by Bashir Abdi ran 2:03:36 at last year's Rotterdam Marathon. Second place, 2:04:16 created by Turkish athlete Kaan Kigen Özbilen at the 2019 Valencia Marathon.
On April 10, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, whether he can give a good game, and whether Najeye can achieve his Goal of 2:05 in Sub, we will wait and see.