What to expect from Danielzinho at the Hamburg Marathon?

This Sunday, April 23, Daniel do Nascimento and two other Brazilians will compete in the 42 km of Hamburg in search of good marks.

Danielzinho poses with other elite Hamburg Marathon athletes at the press conference

Daniel do Nascimento, Danielzinho, participated in the press conference of the German competition, yesterday, April 20th, and when asked if he would be the favorite among the Brazilians, he dismissed the pressure by answering that “the favorite in Brazil is Palmeiras”. He also said that he is well prepared, that they have been training in Uganda which has left him with stronger legs and he has studied the course of the race.

Personally, I thought it was a good thing that he chose Hamburg instead of Boston or London, as that way he ends up taking away the pressure for the result after what happened in New York, when he overdid it and had to abandon the race.

In conversation with Flavio Schuller, who have been taking care of Daniel’s career (and are with him in Hamburg), the athlete has matured after what happened in NY and has been seeing a sports psychologist every week – factors that we all considered essential for a guy as talented as him. With his head in place, I can’t imagine where he will go. I hope the first step is his redemption in Hamburg, remembering that his best marathon time is 2:04:51 in Seoul 2022.

Another Brazilian in the elite is Johnatas Cruz, who was already Pan American cross-country champion and team silver medalist at Canada 2019, which had Danielzinho as a member. Cruz debuted in marathons in December 2022 in Malaga, Spain. He was doing very well, with a time forecast of sub 2h08, however, at km 35 he was attacked by cramps, had to reduce the pace and completed the race with 2h20. The expectation of Fran Kauê, his coach, is that the athlete gets the index for the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, which is 2:09:40. It is an expectation that can be achieved, since the training cycle this time was longer and reached a peak of 250 km in the week.

Samuel do NascimentoSamuca, which is supported by people from the racing mania, is also in the race, but did not get a place to start in the elite peloton. This means that he will not be able to get a spot on the special hydration tables and will have to make his own replacement strategy. I talked to him and Samuca told me that he and his trainer made some adjustments in the training and he is going to try to beat his personal record, a mark that stays below 2h13 would already be of excellent size.

Brazil has history in Hamburg. In 2004, Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima won the race with 2:09:39. Who knows, maybe we don’t have another Brazilian name on the list of winners of the German race on Sunday? It doesn’t hurt to dream, right?

The race will be broadcast on the competition’s official Youtube channel., starting at 3:45 am, Brasilia time, with the half-marathon and relays. The marathon is scheduled to start at 4:30 am.

The link to Stream on Youtube is here

The link for you to tracking of elite and amateur athletes is here