Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge and US Galen Rupp run during the Men’s Marathon athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 21, 2016. He also adds Rio marathon gold to his two Olympic medals won on the track – 5000m silver in 2008 and bronze in 2004 – to complete the set.
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IRELAND’S PAUL POLLOCK produced a very strong finish in today’s Olympic Marathon in Rio, jumping 64 places over the second half of the race to claim 32nd spot. Uganda’s defending champion Stephen Kiprotich could only manage 14th place, clocking 2:13:32.
Kenya has ended the outing with an impressive six haul of gold medals with the first one having been won in women’s marathon thanks to a superb run by Jemima Sumgong while David Rudisha retained his gold in the men’s 800 metres.
Rupp’s medal is the first in the men’s marathon for the United States since Meb Keflezighi won the silver medal in Athens in 2004.
With no pacemakers, there was a sizeable leading group through the 10-mile mark, including all the pre-race favourites for the gold medal. Kenya’s Margaret Nyairera Wambui took the bronze medal. Later he explained he was protesting against the killing of the Oromo people in his country – and then warned: “If I go back to Ethiopia, they will kill me or put me in prison”. Eliud Kipchoge has been the dominant marathoner the last two years, while his Kenyan teammate Stanley Biwott also is a contender.
DOUBLE GOLD: French fighter Tony Yoka joined fiancee Estelle Mossely as gold medal winners, defeating Britain’s Joe Joyce in a super heavyweight bout Sunday.
“I am quite pleased to have led but maybe went a bit too early, I went with seven kilometres to go and a few of them managed to catch me at the end in the last three or four kilometres”.
Kipchoge broke away from the 2012 London Olympics 10,000m silver medallist Gulen Rupp from the US and Ethiopian Lelisa Feyisa at the 30km mark and never looked back.
He won bronze and silver over 5,000 meters at the 2004 and 2008 Games respectively, but failed to win selection for the 2012 Olympics on the track. The other American in the race, Jared Ward, finished 6th in 2:11:30.
Galen Rupp’s move to the marathon paid off Sunday. On his approach to the finish line, Lilesa had raised his arms and crossed them above his head in a protest against violence back home in Ethiopia. “Emotionally I was pretty drained after that 10K [eight days ago]”. “This is history, the first time the women and the men win (from the same nation at the same Olympics) and it is the best moment of my life”.
“Definitely I had my own game plan and I stuck with that”.
However, since stepping up to the marathon he has compiled a near ideal record.
“It was tough”, Rupp said.
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The sunny skies that had lit up Rio in the previous days had been replaced by wind and rain on Sunday as the marathon got started, making for hard running conditions.
