The must-see moments from the women’s Olympic marathon in Rio
The women's marathon at the Olympic Games kicked off day three of athletics and there were plenty of must-see moments.
The women’s Olympic marathon kicked off day three of athletics action at the Rio 2016 Games. On a hot morning in the Brazilian city, 157 athletes toed the line for the marathon with plenty of action taking place during all portions of the race. Here are some of the must-know moments from the morning that was.
Kenya wins its first-ever Olympic gold medal in the women’s marathon
When one thinks of long-distance running, the most dominant nation that comes to mind is typically Kenya. Amazingly, it wasn’t until today that a Kenyan women has won an Olympic gold medal in the marathon. Jemima Sumgong, a winner of the London Marathon, put in a surge with approximately 1.5K to go to defeat Kenyan-born Eunice Kirwa, who now represents Bahrain.
Sarah Attar completes marathon
Crying. Love you @theSarahAttar. You're changing the world. #KSA #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/HyJ0CDWZs3
— Sally Bergesen (@oiselle_sally) August 14, 2016
The first ever Saudi Arabian woman to compete at the Olympics in 2012 returned to Rio and ran the marathon on Sunday morning. Sarah Attar has lived in California for her entire life but holds dual citizenship with the United States and Saudi Arabia. The International Olympic Committee invited her to compete in the Rio Games despite not being close to hitting the necessary qualifying time standard.
The late Sammy Wanjiru is the only other Kenyan to have ever won the Olympic marathon. He set an Olympic record at the 2008 Games in what some say is one of the greatest races ever (2:06 in the heat of Beijing).
First Saudi Olympian @theSarahAttar (London 2012) returns to Rio to race the marathon close to PR. INCREDIBLE! #KSA pic.twitter.com/29bZDJKdfR
— Sally Bergesen (@oiselle_sally) August 14, 2016
Canadians run two smart races, both place in the top-35
Lanni Marchant and Krista DuChene, the two Canadians in the race, ran superb races to finish in the top 35. It was the first time since 1984 that two Canadian women were entered in the 42.2K discipline at the Olympic Games. Marchant, on just 48 hours rest from the 10,000m, placed 24th to go along with her 25th place finish two days ago. DuChene, Canada’s marathon mom, celebrated across the line as she finished the world’s most exclusive marathon. The marathon is also one of the few global disciplines as athletes from more than 80 countries competed in the event.
RELATED: See the race recap with a Canadian-focus as Lanni Marchant and Krista DuChene place in the top 35.
Post marathon @LJM5252 and @tasha_wodak pic.twitter.com/kZ4UpD36nc
— Trent Stellingwerff (@TStellingwerff) August 14, 2016
.@LJM5252 "It was exactly what I wanted for my Olympic marathon experience. I hope the next Olympics its even harder to make this team."
— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) August 14, 2016
#CAN Krista DuChene is pumped up after crossing the finish line! #Rio2016 https://t.co/JAoL0ve2RK https://t.co/QzDTpv5cTz
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 14, 2016
North Korean twins tie at the finish line, German twins cross holding hands
Twins till the finish!
A photo finish separated the Koreans
The Germans held hands thru the line#Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/G0TcWBfS2u— IAAF (@iaaforg) August 14, 2016
The two sets of twins in the women’s Olympic marathon crossed the finish line together. North Korea’s Kim Hye-Gyong and Kim Hye-Song finished 10th and 11th in the same time (2:28:36) but needed photo finish to determine the better result. The German twins, Anna and Lisa Hahner, finished 81st and 82nd in 2:45:32 and 2:45:33, respectively.
There were also Estonian triplets who ran the marathon though only two of the three finished. See their full story here.
A tie for the North Korean twins (will need photo finish) pic.twitter.com/2kHpctLNzy
— CanadianRunning (@CanadianRunning) August 14, 2016
Protester gets chased off the Olympic marathon course
As the two lead women approached the finishing stretch of the race, a protester ran onto the course and had to be controlled by a security guard.
#Olympics #Athletics Protester being chased off the women's marathon course shortly before the finish. pic.twitter.com/kbvxc6Jgh0
— Heywoodu U. Cuddleme (@heywoodu) August 14, 2016
Americans place sixth, seventh and ninth
Americans Shalane Flanagan and Desiree Linden hung with the lead pack for much of the race and placed in the top 10. Flanagan was mixing it up with the leaders in the latter stages of the race while Linden ran more even-paced and was consistently between 15 and 30 seconds back. Linden and Marchant trained together during the winter months in Kenya as many elite athletes spend time in the East African nation for training camps.
Amy Cragg was a bit further back of the two other Americans but still finished strong in ninth.
Cragg and Flanagan train with the Bowerman Track Club in Oregon, a group that also features Canadians Mo Ahmed and Matt Hughes.
Shalane Flanagan top American marathon finisher. 6th-2:25.26 & Desi Linden 7th-2:26.08 #Rio2016 @ShalaneFlanagan pic.twitter.com/Hlsq5lxhnY
— MileSplit US (@milesplit) August 14, 2016
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