2008 Olympic Track and Field - Day 10

In the marathon, mature runners generally have the advantage over younger, less-experienced competitors. But youth was served in the men’s Olympic marathon final Sunday as 21-year-olds Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya and Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia won gold and bronze, respectively in the final track and field event of the Beijing Games. Wanjiru won in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32, easily outdistancing 26-year-old Jaouad Gharib of Morocco (2:07:16). Deriba Merga, the 37-year-old Ethiopian, entered the stadium in third place but Kebede passed him on the track to earn the bronze (2:10:00). American finishers included Dathan Ritzenhein (ninth, 2:11:59), Ryan Hall (tenth, 2:12:33) and Brian Sell (22nd, 2:16:07). The 2004 gold medalist, Stefano Baldini of Italy, finished 12th (2:13:25), while 2007 World Outdoor champion Luke Kibet of Kenya dropped out with an apparent injury.

The race began in Tiananmen Square and the lead runners set a fast early pace, particularly considering the hot and humid conditions. It was 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) at the start, rising to 30 degrees (86 F.) later in the race. By the 20-kilometer mark there were only five runners in the leading pack: Wanjiru, Merga, Gharib, Yonas Kifle of Eritrea and Kenya’s Martin Lel. Kifle and then Lel eventually fell back and finished 36th and fifth, respectively. The remaining three constituted the leading pack all the way to the stadium, with Wanjiru pulling away during the final kilometers, and Kebede charging from behind to overtake the fading Merga near the end.

Wanjiru, who already held the half marathon world record, topped the former Olympic marathon mark of 2:09:21 set by Portugal’s Carlos Lopes in 1984. Lopes’ record had been the second-oldest on the Olympic track and field books (Bob Beamon’s long jump mark from 1968 remains the oldest record).

The U.S. finished the Olympics with 23 track and field medals (seven gold, nine silver, seven bronze). Russia was second with 18 medals (six gold, five silver, seven bronze), followed by Kenya with 14 (five gold, five silver, four bronze) and Jamaica with 11 (six gold, three silver, two bronze). The only other country to win more than one gold medal was Ethiopia, with four.