Also on the final day, Brazil finished with a flourish as they beat Italy 3-0 to win the men´s title in volleyball, one of the country´s most popular sports, a day after Neymar guided the hosts to football gold.
Advertisement
A former track star who won silver and bronze medals in the 5 000m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2004 Athens Games respectively, Kipchoge took the final step to gold by waving his arms in celebration as he crossed the line in 2:08.44, which was well off his personal best of 2:03.05. The race began and ended in the Sambrodomo, the parade ground for the city’s iconic Carnival.
Feyisa Lelisa of Ethiopia finished second for the silver, while American Galen Rupp took bronze in his second marathon and first ever in the Olympics.
Eventually, Lilesa did enough to clinch the silver medal, while Rupp clung on to bronze despite a mammoth late effort from Eritrea’s world marathon champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie.
Great Britain also had a banner Games, collecting 67 medals, more than it earned on London’s home soil in 2012, including more golds (27) and silvers (23) than even mighty China.
Keflezighi, 41, was back again for another marathon, but struggled in Sunday’s race, stopping several times and finishing 33rd in 2:16:46.
Kipchoge made his move after the 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) mark, gradually putting distance between himself and a pack of about a dozen other runners.
A few steps from the finish line he lost his footing on a slick surface, fell and slid across the line where he squeezed off a couple of push-ups for humor’s sake.
Fast-twitch nation has undergone a transformation with the final act playing out Sunday at the rainy Rio Games marathon.
Eight days after finishing fifth in the 10,000 meters, the 30-year-old from OR ended up on the podium in the Games’ most grueling race.
“This is history, the first time the women and the men win and it is the best moment of my life”, said Kipchoge, with his fellow Kenyan Jemima Sumgong having secured success in the women’s race a week earlier. Lasse Viren of Finland accomplished that feat in 1972 and 1976.
– The U.S. men’s indoor volleyball team won a bronze, beating Russian Federation in five sets after starting off in a 0-2 hole. His second won him a medal.
Kenya also has six silver medals and one bronze and now stands in the thirteenth position ahead of all other African countries.
Michael Phelps also capped his Olympic career in Rio, adding five gold medals to take his career haul to 23 – plus a silver, after his loss to Singapore’s Joseph Schooling, a former childhood fan of the United States swimmer.
Kenya’s Margaret Nyairera Wambui took the bronze medal.
But Kipchoge stole the show on Sunday. Kipchoge has now won seven of the eight marathons he has entered, including two London Marathon victories and first place in Hamburg, Rotterdam and Chicago.
Advertisement
However, since stepping up to the marathon he has compiled a near ideal record.
