Ethiopian runner Tamirat Tola wins men’s marathon at Paris Olympics to end Kenya dominance
PARIS (AP) — Ethiopian runner Tamirat Tola won the men’s marathon at the Paris Olympics on Saturday to end Kenya’s dominance of the race.
Tola finished in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 26 seconds, with Belgium’s Bashir Abdi finishing 21 seconds behind and Benson Kipruto taking bronze for Kenya, 34 seconds back.
Tola looked back as he neared the line and had time to soak up the applause. Britain’s Emile Cairess placed fourth and even had enough energy for a sprint finish — of sorts — after 42 kilometers (26 miles) in the sun.
Two-time defending champion Eliud Kipchoge struggled throughout. He was more than eight minutes behind Tola at the 30-kilometer mark and did not finish.
The last non-Kenyan to win was Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich at the London Games in 2012.
The 39-year-old Kipchoge was looking to become the first man to win the race three times but stays stuck on two. Ethiopian Abebe Bikila won it consecutively in 1960 and 1964 and Waldemar Cierpinski did the same in 1976 and 1980 representing then-East Germany.
Breaking from tradition, the men’s Olympic marathon was not held on the final day and instead the women will run on Sunday.
Starting out from Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), the route passed through the parks and forests dotted along the way, with one climb of 436 meters and a slightly longer descent.
Under blue skies, runners took in landmarks such as Opéra Garnier and the Louvre museum. About halfway through, the passed near the regal grounds of the Palace of Versailles — once the home of French royalty — before doubling back through Meudon forest toward Paris and past the Eiffel Tower.
Tola was up front with Italian Eyob Faniel and American Conner Mantz approaching halfway, but they were caught as a big group formed again. Kipchoge was trailing by over a minute at this point and fell back.
Tola then pulled away and after 35 kilometers he was 18 seconds ahead of countryman Deresa Geleta, who finished fifth.
After two hours, runners approached the the gold-domed Invalides monument, site of French emperor Napoleon’s tomb.
Last year, hundreds of disgruntled French farmer s drove up to Invalides monument to protest to be allowed to use banned pesticides on sugar beets and other crops.
No social tensions this time, just loud ovations and warm applause as each runner crossed the line, with the crowd hanging around to cheer the backmarkers.
The memory of Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum hovered over the race. The world record holder would’ve been a gold-medal favorite. He was killed along with his coach, Gervais Hakizimana, in a Feb. 11 crash that happened near the town of Kaptagat in western Kenya.
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