The favourite Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won the Olympic marathon on Sunday, drawing away over the final four miles to win in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 44 seconds.
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“It wasn’t really easy but I felt comfortable”, said Kipchoge, who is tipped for an assault on Dennis Kimetto’s world record.
Rupp, who trains alongside Britain’s Mo Farah, is the first United States marathoner to win the event since 2004 – and the third to win a medal since 1924. It’s my first gold medal, it’s the best win of my life’.
If there was humor in his pushups at the finish, there was drama when Lilesa crossed his wrists above his head as he approached the finish line. He said he stood with protestors, and that the government was “killing our people”.
“Given that he is from Oromo, the most targeted and marginalized group of people in Ethiopia in economic and political realm, he is likely to be taken by government security force at the Addis Ababa airport upon arrival”, Gabisa, a visiting academic fellow at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., said in an email to The Times. “My relatives are in prison and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed”. “I can say that this was my best marathon in history as I won the gold medal”.
“I was emotionally drained after the 10K, but I got it out of the system and chose to have an attacking race”, Rupp said.
Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia (2:09:54) and Galem Rupp of the USA (2:10:05) won the silver and bronze respectively.
Utah’s Jared Ward also ran impressively by finishing sixth in 2:11:30 while Mammoth Lake’s Meb Keflezighi was 33rd after he said he had to stop a number of times to throw up. “There’s nothing to celebrate about”.
In 2012 at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, it was the 5000 Meter Final that had a more than epic finish with Galen Rupp battling Bernard Legat to the finish line.
Kipchoge produced a virtuoso performance as he added gold to the 5,000 silver he won in Beijing in 2008 and his bronze from Athens 2004 in the same event.
Sunday’s race was relatively slow for a world-class marathon, which several runners blamed on the wet conditions.
At the 9-mile (15 kilometer) mark, 58 runners were within 10 seconds of the lead.
At one point, Kipchoge motioned to Lilesa, 26, to help him share the lead.
Feyisa Lelisa of Ethiopia finished second for the silver, and American Galen Rupp took bronze in his second marathon and Olympic debut.
CLOSING CEREMONIES: Gymnast Simone Biles carries the USA flag Sunday night when the Rio Games officially end with a closing ceremony that starts at 8 p.m. “Maybe this is my best event”.
It was his second marathon and first ever in the Olympics.
“So many people put so much into this, whether it’s coaches, teammates, family, my wife and kids – they give up a lot, too”, Rupp said. “I was still stubborn, wanted to be a track runner and thought I could do both. I kept telling myself, ‘Stick in it, stick in it, nobody’s tougher than you, keep pushing.’ I was able to fortunately hold on”.
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Yonas Kinde finished 90th in the marathon as a member of the refugee team.
