Ethiopian Tamirat Tola wins Olympic men’s marathon

Ethiopian Tamirat Tola delivered a masterclass in solo front running to win the Olympic men’s marathon in Paris on Saturday as Eliud Kipchoge’s bid for a third gold went up in smoke.

Tola clocked an Olympic record of 2hr 06min 26sec for victory, finishing 21 seconds ahead of Belgium’s Bashir Abdi, whose silver marked an upgrade from his bronze garnered at the Covid-hit Tokyo Games three years ago.

Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, winner of Tokyo, Boston and Chicago marathons in recent years, rounded out the podium, a further 13sec adrift.

“Thank you, Paris!” said Tola, the 2016 Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist who will be 33 on Sunday.

“I’m happy today, I was 2022 world champion and now I’m Olympic champion.

“It’s the greatest day in my life. This was my goal.”

Tola, a late call-up to replace injury-hit Sisay Lemma, won gold at the 2022 world championships in Eugene.

More recently he finished third at last year’s London Marathon and won the New York City Marathon in a course record of 2:04.58.

Former world record holder Kipchoge won golds in the 2016 Rio Games and in Tokyo in 2021, but the 39-year-old Kenyan pulled up late in the race.

He withdrew just after the 30km mark, at which point he was 71st, more than eight minutes off the pace.

It put an end to his ambitious attempt at a third consecutive win.

In scenes witnessed by an AFP reporter in the crowd, Kipchoge turned to fans and handed over his shoes, bib and socks to supporters, receiving a rapturous reception.

Tola’s teammate Kenenisa Bekele, who won three Olympic and five world golds over 5000m and 10,000m before turning to the marathon, finished 39th in 2:12.24.

The 42km-long marathon course headed out of central Paris to Versailles, mimicking a key moment from the French Revolution: the Women’s March on Versailles, on 5 October 1789 which led to French King Louis XVI finally agreeing to ratify the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens.

The route included a 436m climb and 438m descent. The maximum gradient on the route was 13.5 percent.