08/06/2021 22:06
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 08/06/2021 22:06
Peres Jepchirchir and Brigit Kosgei
gave Kenya a double in the
slowest
women's Olympic marathon
in history
, which ended in 2h27m20s for the winner at Odori Park in Sapporo.
In this Tokyo 2020 competition, Argentine
Marcela Gómez
finished in position 61, with a time of 2h44m09, thus becoming the sixth woman in the country to finish the test at the Olympic Games.
Kosgei crossed the finish line 16 seconds after her partner, and the American anthropologist
Molly Seidel
climbed with them to the podium as third with a time of 2h27s46, after having contributed to the final selection of the race.
It was the
slowest
of the ten women's
marathon
that have been contested in the Olympic Games,
marked by heat and humidity
, which forced the organizers to advance the start one hour (6.00 in the morning).
Jepchirchir,
two-time world half marathon champion
and world record holder
of this distance with 1h05m16, he had a brilliant Olympic debut after having won, last December, the Valencia marathon with 2h17m16, the best world record of 2020.
The temperature at the time of the start was 26 degrees with 78 percent humidity, and it was rising
to 30 degrees
when the first runners reached the finish line.
The three medalists pose with their flags.
AP Photo / Eugene Hoshiko
None of the Rio 2016 medalists, Kenyan
Jemima Jelagat
, Bahraini
Eunice Kirwa
and Ethiopian
Mare Dibaba
, were at the start.
The three Kenyans were favorites: Kosgei, world record holder with 2h14: 04;
Jepchirchir, the queen of the half marathon, and
Ruth Chepngetich
,
current world marathon champion.
Japan, a country that loves this race,
pinned
its hopes on
Mao Ichiyama
, who finished eighth in 2h30m13.
By km 5 the world champion passed with a partial of 18m02 in front of about thirty runners.
The half marathon was covered in 1h15m14, with Jepchirchir leading a group reduced to a dozen
with a strong African predominance.
Peruvian
Gladys Tejeda
was already the first Latin American, 14 seconds behind the first.
At km 30, American downhill skier Molly Seidel was
the only white runner at the top
and acted unapologetically against the Africans.
His work reduced the group to eight and began to hurt even the world champion, Chepngetich,
who went into crisis at that point in the race and had to stop.
Kosgei had not run a marathon since his fourth London win in October in 2h18m58, and Tokyo was his
debut in a major championship.
At km 35 the world record holder was accompanied by Jepchirchir, Seidel, the Israeli
Lonah Salpeter
and the Bahraini
Eunice Chumba
, although this yielded in the following.
Except for the American,
all born in Kenya.
Molly Seidel and Peres Jepchirchir greet each other after the competition.
AP Photo / Eugene Hoshiko
When the two Kenyans started shooting in 38, they accused Seidel and especially Salpeter, who
had to stop to breathe.
The gold and silver medals were to be decided in a heads-up between Kosgei and Jepchirchir, but, without waiting for the sprint, the Valencia heroine
attacked in 39
with her powerful stride and left the smallest Kosgei behind.
Roza Derehe saved the Ethiopian honor
with fourth place (2h28m38), and Gladys Tejeda, in 27th place with 2h34m21, obtained the best result among Latin American runners.
EFE.
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