Xiaolin Zhu
CHINA
BIRTHDATE:
February 20, 1984
PERSONAL BEST:
2:23:57 (Beijing, 2002)
WORLD MARATHON MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS:
17Aug08 Olympic Marathon, Beijing 4th 2:27:16
25Aug07 World Championships Marathon, Osaka 4th 2:31:21
ADDITIONAL CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
31Mar07 Xiamen Marathon 1st 2:26:08
18Jun06 Dalian Marathon 1st 2:45:57
25Mar06 Xiamen Marathon 2nd 2:28:27
30Oct05 Dalian Marathon 1st 2:36:04
16Oct05 Beijing Marathon 6th 2:32:27
26Mar05 Xiamen Marathon 9th 2:35:04
31Oct04 Dalian Marathon 9th 2:44:48
27Mar04 Xiamen Marathon 21st 2:41:04
27Oct02 Dalian Marathon 1st 2:42:56
20Oct02 Beijing Marathon 3rd 2:23:57
CAREER NOTES:
Zhu Xiaolin arrived at the 2007 World Championships Marathom as something of a mystery despite some significant marathon highlights on her resume. However every one of them had been in her home county of China at either Beijing, Xiamen or Dalian.
In her first marathon when she was 18 years old at Beijing in 2002 she posted a third place 2:23:57, still her fastest time. Just one week later she competed at Dalian and despite running 19 minutes slower she won there.
She has also won marathons in Dalian in 2005 and 2006 and broke 2:30 in Xiamen in 2006.
Zhu showed she was in top form in March 2007 with a victory at Xiamen in 2:26:08. Then at the World Championships she had a hard fought battle with Japan's Reiko Tosa for the bronze medal before fading to fourth place in the late stages.
Earlier in 2007 Zhu ran a personal best of 32:37.38 for 10,000 meters. Her fastest 5000m time is 15:22.35 from 2005.
At the 2008 Olympic Games she stayed with the leaders and then the chase pack for much of the race and finished with her second straight fourth place in Majors competition.
