Bruna Genovese
Home: Volpago Del Montello, Italy
Age: 25
Personal best:2:25:35 (Tokyo, 2001)

Trimming nearly five minutes off her personal-best marathon last year, Genovese placed third in 2:25:35 at the Tokyo Marathon. This accomplishment came after finishing ninth at the 2001 Boston Marathon in 2:30:39 and representing her country at the World Marathon Championships in Edmonton (2:33:13, 17th). At age 25, Genovese is just starting to refine her marathon talents. She started running at age 14 and went on to become the Italian Junior 12K Champion in 1995 and the Under-21 Half-Marathon Italian Champion in 1998. At the 1999 Venice Marathon, Genovese finished her debut race in third with a 2:31:06 Olympic A qualifying time. Competing in many Italian road races with great success, Genovese also represents her country in world and national cross-country championships. Her best half-marathon is 71:59, recorded with a win at the 2001 Napoli Half-Marathon. She was repeat champion at Napoli this year. Genovese's coach is Salvatore Bettiol, a second- and fourth-place finisher at the New York City Marathon in 1988 and '89.