Maja Neuenschwander

Maja Neuenschwander (born 13 February 1980 in Bern, Canton of Bern)[1] is a Swiss long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. Her personal best for the marathon distance is 2:30:09 hours – run at the 2015 Vienna Marathon where she was the first female runner overall (the first Swiss victory in history).

Maja Neuenschwander
Personal information
Born (1980-02-13) February 13, 1980
Bern, BE
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country  Switzerland
SportAthletics
Event(s)Marathon
10,000 m
half marathon
Updated on 5 August 2012.

She has represented her country in the marathon at the European Athletics Championships (2010) and the Summer Olympics (2012).

Career

Her first international outing came at the European Cross Country Championships, where she ran in the junior race and placed 16th in 1998 and 30th in 1999.[2][3] She was a 5000 metres finalist at the 1999 European Athletics Junior Championships, finishing seventh.[4]

She made her half marathon debut in Uster in 2000 and came fifth with a time of 76:26 minutes. Despite this early start, she did not compete in top level athletics for several years after this. She returned to action in 2006 with a new focus on the marathon distance. She ran a best of 2:44:24 hours for third at the Zurich Marathon and came 13th at the Berlin Marathon. She had similar results the following year, placing fourth in Zurich and 15th in Berlin.[5] In 2008, she ran under two hours and forty minutes for the first time at the Berlin Marathon, crossing the line after 2:38:53 hours to take twelfth place. She had marked improvement in 2009, setting personal bests of 76:22 minutes at the Paris Half Marathon and 2:35:44 at the 2009 Berlin Marathon.[6]

These performances brought Neuenschwander her first senior international appearances: she came 25th in the marathon at the 2010 European Athletics Championships and she competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the marathon where she finished in 53rd place.[7] In the meantime she had brought her best down to 2:33:45 at the 2011 Berlin Marathon then 2:31:56 to take the runner-up spot at the Zurich Marathon.[5]

The start of the 2013 brought Neuenschwander a personal best of 2:30:50 with which she was the runner-up at the Hamburg Marathon.

Maja Neuenschwander at Eurogames Bern 2023 opening ceremony (second from the right)

In 2023 she was an ambassador for the EuroGames in Bern.[8][9]

Personal bests

Results
YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
2001 European Cross Country Championships Thun, Switzerland 69th Cross country
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 25th Marathon
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 53rd Marathon
2013 Hamburg Marathon Hamburg, Germany 2nd Marathon
2014 European Championships Zurich, Switzerland 9th Marathon
2015 CPC Loop Den Haag The Hague, Netherlands 1st Half marathon
Vienna Marathon Vienna, Austria 1st Marathon
Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 6th Marathon

References
  1. Maja Neuenschwander - facts Archived 2012-07-30 at the Wayback Machine, London 2012 Official site Archived 2013-02-28 at the UK Government Web Archive. Retrieved on 5 August 2012.
  2. European Cross Country Junior Championships 1998. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-04-24.
  3. European Cross Country Junior Championships 1999. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-04-24.
  4. European Junior Championships 1999 Archived 2011-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-04-24.
  5. Maja Neuenschwander. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2013-04-24.
  6. Maja Neuenschwander. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-04-24.
  7. Women’s marathon Archived 2012-12-05 at archive.today London 2012 Official site Archived 2013-02-28 at the UK Government Web Archive. Retrieved on 5 August 2012.
  8. "Our ambassadors - EuroGames 2023 Bern". 2023-01-02. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  9. "Eurogames offiziell eröffnet – Bern, die «Regenbogen-Stadt»". Berner Zeitung (in German). 2023-07-26. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  10. City Pier City Run - The Hague Archived 2015-04-03 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 8 March 2015.
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