BOSTON -- Charlotte Teske of West Germany had just experienced the thrill of victory, but she was talking about the agony of defeat.
'I feel very sorry,' she said Monday after winning the Boston Marathon women's race, a victory made possible when hands-down favorite Grete Waitz dropped out because of severe leg cramps.
Crossing the finish line in two hours, 29 minutes and 33 seconds, Teske was convinced she had finished a distant second to Waitz, three-time winner of the New York Marathon.
But race officials plopped a laurel wreath on Teske's head and ushered her to the winner's stage after informing her Waitz had dropped out around the 22-mile mark.
It was the second-best women's time for Boston and the seventh-fastest women's marathon in the world. But to Teske, it was a victory by default.
'I only think I was the second woman in the field,' said Teske, 32, who called Waitz a superior runner. 'I didn't beat her really. She just ran the race and she dropped out.'
Placing second at 2:36:09 was 1980 Boston Marathon winner Jacqueline Gareau of Montreal.
Although Teske was the fifth-ranked women's marathoner in the world for 1981, she was skeptical about her chances against Waitz and others in the European Championships this September in Athens. The prestigious games are held every four years.
'I think I can't really beat Grete Waitz,' she told a post-race news conference. 'Grete is a very strong runner.'
Sunny skies and temperatures in the high-60s made the race all the more difficult for Waitz, who was running an average 5.5-minute mile by the time she passed her last official checkpoint on the downside of Heartbreak Hill.
Officials at Beth Israel Hospital said the Norwegian was treated for 'severe muscle cramps in her legs' and released.
Teske said she was about two minutes behind Waitz.
