Sammy Wanjiru powered through the Olympic men’s marathon Sunday morning, becoming the first Kenyan to win this event and shattering the Olympic record in 2 hours 6 minutes 32 seconds.
Wanjiru, at 21 the holder of the half-marathon world record, is considered the future of the event. Here, though, he did much for its history, breaking his country’s startling Olympic drought in an event Kenya otherwise dominates.
Wanjiru kept up a blistering pace and took the lead for good just after he passed the 35-kilometer mark. The weather worked in his favor; it was hot but not overly humid, as has often been the case in the mornings during the Olympics. A rainstorm late Saturday night had brought out clear skies and excellent conditions for a race that people feared might be marred by excessive heat or Beijing’s terrible pollution. Neither was a major factor.
Jaouad Gharib of Morocco finished second and Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia was third, passing his countryman Deriba Merga on the final lap inside the National Stadium to grab his medal.
The Americans Dathan Ritzenhein and Ryan Hall finished ninth and 10th, failing to bring home a medal after Meb Keflezghi broke the American drought with a silver in 2004. But they finished well after dropping off the lead pack early in the race.
Hall won the United States trials last November and seemed to have the strongest chance for the Americans. He ran a 2:12.33.
But this race was all about Kenya’s desire to come through in the Olympics.
The three Kenyans — Wanjiru, Martin Lel and Luke Kibet, last year’s world champion — pushed the pace and stretched out the field quickly.
They had the lead pack down to eight in the first 20 minutes of the race, and it dwindled from there.
By the halfway mark, Kibet had dropped significantly off the lead pack. He stopped running altogether an hour and a half into the race, although he did not drop out. After the world championships last year, Kibet was injured in the ethnic violence in Kenya and had not recovered his form. Kibet was hit in the head with a rock and sustained a concussion. He extracted himself from another attack by pulling a gun. His training suffered and he later sustained a hamstring injury.
He was only named as an alternate to the Kenyan team and got a spot in the Games when Robert Cheruiyot dropped out because of an injury.
Just before the 30-kilometer mark, Wanjiru and Merga stretched the lead pack out for good, surging ahead of Gharib, Lel and Yonas Kifle of Eritrea. Gharib surged to rejoin them over the next five kilometers, and that three-man pack ran together.
But just beyond 35 kilometers, Wanjiru took the lead for good and ran into the stadium by himself to huge cheers. He waved to the crowd and clapped as he ran his lap, pitching forward to the track after he finished.
The closest the Kenyans had come to gold was in 1988, when Douglas Wakiihuri came in 15 seconds behind the gold medalist Gelindo Bordin of Italy. Eric Wainaina, a bronze medalist in 1996, finished second in 2000 by 20 seconds to Gezahgne Abera of Ethiopia.
But Kenya came in with two formidable contenders in Wanjiru and Lel. Lel had won his last three marathons: London and New York in 2007 and London this year.
But it was Wanjiru, who has three times set the world record in the half marathon, who seemed to have the greatest motivation, having never beaten Lel to win a major title. He made his marathon debut in 2007 and finished second to Lel in London this year.
He has trained with a club in Japan since 2002, but proudly waved the Kenyan flag for this victory.
referrence:www.sterlingtiffany.com
