Battling calf cramps the last few miles on a humid morning that had him peering over his shoulder repeatedly to make sure he wasn’t about to get knocked out of the medals, Rupp finished in two hours, 10 minutes, 5 seconds.
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Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia (2:09:54) and Galem Rupp of the United States (2:10:05) won the silver and bronze respectively.
Rupp’s first marathon came at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Track and Field in February, when he won and qualified for his third Olympic team.
“It was a championship and it was a bit slow so I made a decision to take over”, said a thrilled Kipchoge after the race. I really was just trying to sit back and relax and cover every move. “Kenyans will be very happy”.
“Alberto said, ‘If you’re with Kipchoge, you’re going to medal, ‘” Rupp said. “It’s wonderful for us”.
Kipchoge, 31, has now won seven of the eight marathons he has entered, including two London Marathon victories.
Kipchoge went into the trace hot favourite, having won the London Marathon in April in 2:03:05, missing the world record of 2:02:57.
Paul Pollock stormed up the field to take a creditable 32nd place for Ireland in the Olympic men’s marathon in Rio today. “There was somebody, Tanzania I believe, that said, ‘My country did not send me here to not finish.’ I cried through the race”.
Rupp crossed the finish line in 2:10.05, He is the first American to medal in the evenr since 2004.With the conclusion of the Summer Olympic Games, not only was OR well represented with the most medals in school history, but the Pac-12 Conference was also well represented. “Maybe this is my best event”.
Eliud Kipchoge in the men marathon leading pack.
While some unfamiliar faces came through to lead the race on occasion, these main contenders started to turn the screw and what was a substantial amount of runners up front was whittled down. “He’s done it over and over and over again”. Another American had an outstanding finish: Jared Ward in sixth (2:11:30). He said: “It was fantastic to cross the line. When the leaders go at a pace that I handle, it was stay with the leaders; if they break, it was to try and keep a rhythm and chase people down at the end”.
MIXED BAG: Brazil managed to pull off South America’s first Olympics under hard economic and political conditions, with the competitions, venues, athletes, friendly hosts, TV images and Rio’s scenic backdrops all rising to the occasion.
Kinde has been living in Luxembourg since 2013. Larger crowds built up as the course took runners along the famous beaches of Rio.
“The Ethiopian government are killing the Oromo people and taking their land and resources so the Oromo people are protesting and I support the protest as I am Oromo”, he told a press conference after the race.
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Athletes and officials from around the world will attend Sunday’s gala closing ceremony at the Maracana stadium from 2300 GMT, where Rio will pass the Olympic torch to Tokyo for the 2020 Games.
