Eliud Kipchoge’s hopes of winning a third gold medal were dashed on Saturday as Ethiopian Tamirat Tola won the Olympic men’s marathon in Paris with a masterclass in solo front running.
Tola won in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 26 seconds, finishing 21 seconds ahead of Bashir Abdi of Belgium, whose silver medal was an improvement over his bronze from the Covid-affected Tokyo Games three years prior.
Benson Kipruto of Kenya, a recent winner of the Chicago, Boston, and Tokyo marathons, completed the podium, finishing 13 seconds behind.
The 2016 Olympic 10,000-meter bronze medallist Tola, who turns 33 on Sunday, said, “Thank you, Paris!”
“I’m happy today, I was 2022 world champion and now I’m Olympic champion.”This is the best day of my life. This was my objective.
Tola, who was called up at the last minute to take Sisay Lemma’s injured position, won gold at the Eugene 2022 World Championships.
More recently, he set a course record by winning the New York City Marathon in 2:04.58 and placing third in the London Marathon the previous year.
Kipchoge, a 39-year-old Kenyan who once held the world record, finished the race late despite winning gold in both the Rio Olympics in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.
He pulled out just after the thirty-kilometer mark, placing him 71st and over eight minutes behind the leaders,
It ended his audacious quest for a third straight victory.
An AFP reporter was present when Kipchoge turned to face the crowd and gave his shoes, bib, and socks to admirers, who enthusiastically accepted him.
Kenenisa Bekele, Tola’s colleague, finished 39th in 2:12.24, having won three Olympic golds and five world golds in the 5000 and 10,000 meters before switching to the marathon.
Following in the footsteps of a pivotal event in the French Revolution—the Women’s March on Versailles on October 5, 1789, which ultimately resulted in French King Louis XVI agreeing to sign the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens—the 42-kilometer marathon path proceeded out of central Paris to Versailles.
The route featured a 438-meter drop and a 436-meter climb. The route’s highest grade was 13.5 percent.
