PARIS– Ethiopian runner Tamirat Tola won the men’s marathon at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, ending Kenya’s dominance in the race.
Tola finished in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 6 minutes and 26 seconds, with Belgian Bashir Abdi finishing 21 seconds behind and Benson Kipruto taking bronze for Kenya, 34 seconds behind.
Tola looked back as she approached the line and had time to absorb the applause. Britain’s Emile Cairess was fourth and still had enough energy to finish on speed – of sorts – after 42 kilometers (26 miles) in the sun.
Two-time champion Eliud Kipchoge fought the entire time. 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 2012 London Games.
Kipchoge, 39, was trying to become the first man to win the race three times, but remains stuck on two. Ethiopian Abebe Bikila won consecutively in 1960 and 1964 and Waldemar Cierpinski did the same in 1976 and 1980, representing the then East Germany.
In a break with tradition, the men’s Olympic marathon was not held on the final day and instead the women’s marathon will run on Sunday.
Starting from the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), the route passed through parks and forests scattered along the way, with an ascent of 436 meters and a slightly longer descent.
Under the blue sky, runners visited monuments such as the Opéra Garnier and the Louvre museum. About halfway along the way, we passed close to the real grounds of the Palace of Versailles – once home to French royalty – before heading back through the Meudon Forest towards Paris and past the Eiffel Tower.
Tola was in front with Italian Eyob Faniel and American Conner Mantz approaching the middle, but they were caught when a large group formed again. Kipchoge was trailing by over a minute at this point and fell back.
Tola then took off and after 35 kilometers was 18 seconds ahead of compatriot Deresa Geleta, who finished fifth.
After two hours, the runners approached the gold-domed Invalides monument, the site of the tomb of the French emperor Napoleon.
Last year, hundreds of dissatisfied french farmer s headed to the Invalides monument to protest against the permission to use banned pesticides on sugar beet and other crops.
This time, there were no social tensions, just loud cheers and warm applause as each runner crossed the line, with the crowd on hand to cheer the stragglers.
The memory of Kelvin Kiptum from Kenya hovered over the race. The world record holder would be the favorite for the gold medal. He died along with his coach, Gervais Hakizimana, in an accident on February 11 that happened near the town of Kaptagat in western Kenya.
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