MOWA entrance hall
The entrance hall of the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) 3D platform online platform has been refreshed ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Artefacts from the collections of the ASICS Sports Museum, Kobe and the MOWA related to four Olympic women's marathon champions and a four-time Olympic men's track champion are featured in the new ASICS central display.
Rosa Mota, Seoul 1988 marathon gold medallist (artefact: road running shoe) did not take a significant lead in the Korean capital until four kilometres to go and won by just 13 seconds, or about 60 metres, in 2:25:40 to become her county’s first female Olympic champion in any sport.
Constantina Dita, Beijing 2008 marathon gold medallist (artefact: road running shoe) was 38 at the time of her victory, making her the oldest woman to ever win an Olympic running event. She took the lead just before the halfway point and grittily held on to it for the rest of the race before winning in 2:26:44, 22 seconds clear of her nearest rival.
Mizuki Noguchi, Athens 2004 marathon gold medallist (artefact: road running shoe) made a decisive move after halfway and splintered the pack; by 30km, Noguchi had a lead of 23 seconds. She crossed the line in 2:26:20, 12 seconds clear of her nearest rival, Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba.
Naoko Takahashi, Sydney 2000 marathon gold medallist (artefacts: road running shoe & bib number) Takahashi attacked and went away from the leading group at 17km with just Romania’s Lidia Simon for company. She crossed the line in an Olympic record of 2:23:14 to win by eight seconds from Simon.
Lasse Viren, four-time Olympic track champion (track spike and road running shoes) was fifth in his marathon debut in Montreal 1976, having successfully completed his second 5000m and 10,000m golden double only the previous day. The single spike is from Munich 1972 and the pair of road shoes from Montreal.
Tokyo last lap bell
Added to the entrance of the Olympic Athletics Collection room inside the MOWA is the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Last Lap Bell.
The final lap bell from the Tokyo Olympic Games
Displayed in glorious 360 degree 3D like the rest of the collection, the bell, which rings as the visitor passes the entrance, is also one of the artefacts in the MOWA Olympic Athletics Collection being displayed in the public areas of the Westin Paris – Vendôme hotel from 24 July to 11 August.
New MOWA Collectors’ Cards now available
To mark Paris 2024, five more MOWA Collectors’ Cards have been published, bringing the individually numbered card series up to 60.
The new cards, each displaying an athlete whose career is represented by an artefact in the MOWA’s World Athletics Heritage Collection, all feature Olympic champions:
No. 56 – Michael Johnson
No. 57 – Carolina Kluft
No. 58 – Veronica Campbell-Brown
No. 59 – Mutaz Barshim
No. 60 – Eliud Kipchoge
Visitors simply need to go the artefact of the athlete concerned and, using the card icon on the bottom right of the activation screen, request a card (one per person) which will be posted to them free of charge.
Chris Turner for World Athletics Heritage
