British runner just misses a podium place as Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia wins in 2:06:26 and Eliud Kipchoge drops out on hilly course
On a tough marathon course at the Paris Olympics, Emile Cairess enjoyed the run of his life on Saturday. A mixture of heat and hills broke legends such as Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele, but the 26-year-old Yorkshireman gritted it out to finish a fine fourth.
One place higher and he would have become the first Brit to win a medal in the Olympic men’s marathon since Charlie Spedding took bronze in Los Angeles 40 years ago. Cairess didn’t care, though. “I didn’t really care where I came,” he said. “It was more about doing my best race and fulfilling my potential because I can’t really control how fit or fast all the other guys are. I ran the best I could today and am really proud of myself.”
Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia proved an emphatic winner in an Olympic record of 2:06:26 after covering the first half in 64:51 and the second in a blistering 61:35. Bashir Abdi of Belgium was runner-up in 2:06:47 with Benson Kipruto of Kenya third in 2:07:00.
Cairess ran 2:07:29 after finishing strongly to pass Deresa Geleta of Ethiopia and Akira Akasaki of Japan in the final mile.
Tamirat Tola (Getty)
Tola was not even initially selected for the Ethiopian squad but was added to the team after Sisay Lemma withdrew due to injury. In 2016 he won Olympic 10,000m bronze behind winner Mo Farah before going on to claim the world marathon title in Eugene in 2022 and the New York City Marathon last year in 2:04:58.
Like Tola, Cairess was wearing the adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo – a single-use shoe that costs more than £400 with only a few hundred pairs reportedly being made. Super shoes aside, Cairess is refreshing old school, wearing a small Casio wrist watch in Saturday’s race. “I don’t need GPS as I can see the kilometre markings on the course,” he said.
In the quest to conquer the heat as the temperatures rose into the 20s Celsius under bright sunshine, Kipchoge wore a Omius Headband to provide “passive cooling”. It didn’t seem to help, though, as the 39-year-old failed in his attempt to win his third consecutive Olympic marathon. Dropped fairly early in the race and holding the side of his body in discomfort, he was reduced to a walk and eventually dropped out.
Eliud Kipchoge (Getty)
Bekele, 42, also struggled but fought on to finish 39th in 2:12:24. Quite appropriately, given the venue, the race featured Tour…
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