Florencia Borelli’s great moment: sixth in the Buenos Aires Half Marathon, Argentine and South American record

Argentine athletics is enjoying a great presence in medium and long distance races and the great standard-bearer of this positive moment is undoubtedly Florencia Borelli, who once again signed a historic performance on Sunday. The 29-year-old from Mar del Plata finished sixth in the 2022 edition of 21 kilometers from Buenos Aires and was crowned Argentine and South American champion over that distance with a score of 1h09m31, a new national and continental record.

“He owed it to me. I was looking for the South American record for a long time and in the end I found it. He stayed at home. Buenos Aires always invites me to make personal bests”, he commented in chat with TN who was sixth in the general classification and improved the record of 1h10m14 which was in the power of the Peruvian Gladys Lucy Tejada from the Cardiff World Cup since 2016.

On the streets of Buenos Aires, Borelli has done nothing but sanction his status as a leading figure in Juventus athletics in recent seasons. And he made it clear that he was not wrong when, after failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in the 5,000 meters, he decided last year to look for new challenges and focus more on road events.

His first long-distance shot was in October with the victory at the Buenos Aires marathon, with only four months of preparation for that competition and in what was only the second experience of his career in approximately 42,195 kilometers (and the first in almost a decade). His time of 2h32m27 surprised everyone. Even his own coach, Leonard Malgorwho had predicted a higher score of nearly six minutes.

In February of this 2022, he improved that record by completing the Seville marathon in 2h26m54, setting a new Argentine record – he improved the 2h28m58 he had recorded Marcela Gomez in 2020 on the same circuit – and qualify for the Eugenio’s world.

Its rise has not stopped. In the Ibero-American Championship which took place in La Nucía and Torrevieja, Spain, in May, the woman from Mar del Plata became champion of the Half Marathon with a time of 1h11’59, the second best of her career over that distance. Improved weather on Sunday in the Argentine capital.

“The truth is that it is a huge effort at the family level, because a lot is left behind. I dedicate the victory to my son, who is here. I am very excited, he is my inspiration and he was waiting for me at the finish line,” said the winner. the 21K porteños in 2016 and 2017.

Milo entered her life in 2015 and forced her to reinvent herself as an athlete at the age of 22. Her motherhood, far from holding her back, made her understand her strength.

“The birth was difficult. After all this, nothing I have to go through is suffering,” she said in a note with Clarín a few years ago. “Being a mother gives you a lot of power. Milo made me mature and take my job as an athlete very seriously. But he also taught me to love competitions.”

A talented cross-country skier, as demanding as few, with an extraordinary ability to give the best in the most difficult situations and a born mental strength, Borelli had no problems regaining form and level immediately after giving birth. And it didn’t cost her much to change focus last year to devote herself more to the course than to the track races in which she has always concentrated her greatest energy. This is demonstrated by the results of the 21 and 42 kilometers you have raced in these months.

Although, a lover of challenges, he did not want to leave aside those tests in which he had shone for years, with great performances at South American and national level.

For instance, in June he won the bronze medal in the 5,000 meters in a match in ManchesterEngland, and set a new record for our country, with 15m23s83.

A physical ailment caused by high temperatures did not allow her to show her best level at the Eugene World Championships, held in July and for which she had qualified in the 5,000 meters and marathon. Borelli chose to run only the shortest distance, but she failed to perform as expected. In her heat he scored 16m06s36, far from the record she had achieved shortly before in Manchester, and finished 32nd, without being able to enter the final.

“I felt awful in the race, beyond the heat. Far from my best record, but giving up is never an option for me. There is a lot of effort behind it,” he wrote in an Instagram post.

He got up quickly and days later, on July 29, in Memphis, he ran the 3,000 meters in 8: 53.89, winning the silver medal and setting a new continental record. Thus, she lowered the time she had recorded months before her, in her native Mar del Plata, when she stopped the clock at 8:59:10 and became the first South American athlete to lower the 9-minute barrier. over this distance.

“I like to be challenged and to challenge myself. It’s nice to be an example that things happen sometimes, that you have to dream and stand firm in the decisions you make, not paying attention to what others say,” he told this newspaper. last year, after the triumph in the Buenos Aires marathon.

This is Borelli: the proof that, by dreaming up high and with dedication and work, anything is possible. He has been able to reinvent himself more than once and today he is the great reference point of Argentine athletics in the medium and long distance. He never tires of breaking records or improving in any competition; like he did on Sunday, at the 21K in Buenos Aires, which saw her as the main protagonist.