Роб де Кастелла: Путь австралийского марафонца

Australian long distance runner

Francois Robert "Rob" de Castella (born 27 February 1957) is an Australian former world champion marathon runner. De Castella is widely known as "Deek" or "Deeks" He was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the eldest of seven children. Sport was a way of life in his family – his father Rolet ran marathons in the 1950s. His mother Anne was a state level tennis player. His brother Nicholas, took part in four World Cross Country Championships, whereas brother Anthony competed in running at club level for more than 25 years. Rob de Castella was an outstanding track athlete as a teenager and trained under Pat Clohessy from the age of 11.

De Castella was the favourite to win the marathon at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. At the start of the race, Tanzanians Gidamis Shahanga and Juma Ikangaa raced to the lead and were 50 m ahead of the pack after five minutes. After the 20 km mark, this gap had widened to several hundred meters. At the halfway mark, De Castella developed diarrhoea. In 100% humidity, he let go of his bowels and signalled for some damp towels from his crew members. By the 23 km mark, Ikangaa had taken the lead from his compatriot, with de Castella in the main pack some 250 m behind but closing. De Castella passed the now tiring Shahanga at the 38 km mark, and in the next kilometre drew level with Ikangaa and then took the lead. However, Ikangaa was not done yet, and he re took the lead slightly. The duel continued for the remainder of the race. Eventually, de Castella pulled away and won by 80 metres in a time of 2:09:18, 12 seconds ahead of Ikangaa. Briton Mike Gratton finished third in 2:12:06, and Shahanga faded to finish 6th. The race finished on the streets of Brisbane, not in the main stadium.

In April 1983, De Castella defeated a deep field to win the Rotterdam Marathon. The race was billed as a clash between de Castella and Salazar, who at the time was undefeated, and was also televised live back to Australia. De Castella dropped all of the field except Carlos Lopes (who would win the Olympic marathon the next year), and defeated Lopes in a sprint for the finish, winning in a time of 2:08:37.

De Castella won Australia's first athletic World Championships gold medal when he won the marathon in August 1983, beating Ethiopian Kebede Balcha by 24 seconds and Olympic champion Waldemar Cierpinski by 34 seconds.

De Castella was the favourite for the 1984 Summer Olympics marathon. He caught some of the leaders during the final kilometres, and finished fifth.

De Castella defended his Commonwealth Games title in Edinburgh, winning in 2:10:15.

De Castella failed to finish the marathon at the 1987 World Athletics Championships. He retired from the sport in 1993 and lives in Canberra, together with his wife Theresa and four children. Choosing to move rather than rebuild, he now lives in a nearby suburb. He later helped with the taskforce established for the reconstruction of areas worst affected by the fires. and subsequently became executive director of Focus On You, a company focusing on corporate and community health and fitness. He also fronts the Indigenous Marathon Project. In 2014 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia at the Australia Day honours. In 2003, de Castella launched "deeks", a specialist chain of grain and gluten free bakeries & cafés. In 2004, he earned a black belt in the traditional Okinawan Goju Ryu; he has also been part of a long running advertising campaign for the multi vitamin tablet "Centrum". On 10 October 2023, de Castella was one of 25 Australians of the Year who signed an open letter supporting the Yes vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum, initiated by psychiatrist Patrick McGorry.