IRELAND’S FIONNUALA MCCORMACK finished 25th and Mayo native Sinéad Diver, representing Australia, was 10th in simply sweltering conditions in the women’s marathon at Tokyo 2020.
In a race won out by Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir in two hours, 27 minutes and 20 seconds in 30.6°C heat and 62.7% humidity, there was disappointment for Cork’s Aoife Cooke, who was forced to pull out before the halfway stage in her Olympic debut.
Four-time Olympian McCormack clocked a season’s best time of 2:34.09 in really difficult conditions in Sapporo; the Wicklow woman producing a controlled performance to back up her top-20 finish at Rio 2016.
A run of 2:34:09 secures a top-25 placing for Fionnuala McCormack in the women’s marathon #Tokyo2020 #athletics #marathon #rtesport
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 7, 2021
📱 Report - https://t.co/fTaGPtc00n pic.twitter.com/M7A5uUtA5f
Having given birth to her second daughter in December, the Kilcoole AC star — back-to-back European Cross Country champion in 2011 and 2012 — was in stunning form on the world’s biggest stage just eight months later.
McCormack wasn’t satisfied with her performance, however. “It wasn’t the result I had hoped for,” the ever-ambitious 36-year-old said. “It was a battle out there today, both physical and mental.”
“Running has broken my heart so many times, so I should probably be used to it, but I still love it so I’ll be back again.”
Belmullet-born Diver crossed the line in a time of 2:31.14 after an exceptional debut Games run. The 44-year-old mother of two, who emigrated to Melbourne in 2002, took up running 11 years ago and ran her first official marathon in 2014, moved up six positions in the final 7km of a powerful effort.
How good seeing the call out to family and friends back in Belmullet. What a superstar Sinead Diver 💚❤️ pic.twitter.com/XaU7Ka3QVV
— Cliff Barnes (@Pam_Ewing_) August 7, 2021
“I just want to say hi to my Dad and my Mam,” Diver, who became the first Team Australia woman to finish top-10 in an Olympic marathon, told 7News, a TV broadcaster in her adopted country, afterwards.
“My Dad is probably the proudest man on the planet at the moment. So hi guys, and I know that everyone at home in Belmullet, they’re all out to watch this race, so thank you all.”
Sinead Diver becomes only the second Australian woman in history to finish top 10 in the Olympic marathon. Ellie Pashley and Lisa Weightman run smart races to finish in 23rd and 26th. It’s fair to say the women’s marathon was a success! 💚💛 #TokyoTogether #ThisIsAthletics pic.twitter.com/XI6U2OT0DG
— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) August 6, 2021
The fourth-fastest Irish female marathon runner of all time, Cooke struggled with the conditions, falling down the field from 10km in.
At 20km, she was five-and-a-half minutes off the lead. Her withdrawal was an awful pity, given the huge progress she has made in recent years.
Looking at the top of the field, Jepchirchir secured back-to-back women’s Olympic marathon titles for Kenya. The 27-year-old two-time half marathon world champion beat compatriot Brigid Kosgei (2:27.36) whilst USA’s Molly Seidel was third (2:27.46).
Jepchirchir succeeds fellow Kenyan Jemima Sumgong, who won in 2016 in Rio.
Organisers, wary of the hot and humid condition, had announced on the eve of the race the start time had been brought forward an hour to 6am local time.
However, even with that, many runners failed to last the distance, including Diver and Kenya’s world champion Ruth Chepngetich. Other runners crossed the finish line clearly in distress, including Mexico’s Ursula Sanchez. She staggered over the line and was attended to by a race official.
Two hours into the race, the temperature had risen to 30.6°C (87 degrees Fahrenheit) and 62.7% humidity.
Jepchirchir and Kosgei had moved up a gear with 4km remaining with just a quartet of runners in contention for the medals.
Seidel was the first to be dropped followed by Kenya-born Israeli Lonah Salpeter. The Israeli had looked set to give her adopted country their first ever athletics Olympics medal.
However, her hopes of a bronze were brought to a brutal end as she pulled up and retired soon after being dropped leaving Seidel clear in third spot.
Up ahead, Jepchirchir made her decisive move for gold with two kilometres remaining and Kosgei could find no reserves in her tank.
It was the first defeat for Kosgei in five marathons — she won Chicago (2018/19) and London (2019/20) — but she had been struggling for a while in the hot conditions even resorting to stuffing an ice pack down the front of her running vest.
However, it was all smiles at the finish — a mixture of joy and relief the endurance test was over — as Kosgei embraced the new champion.
- You can view the full standings here >
- Additional reporting from © – AFP, 2021
