Home › Race Coverage › Tola conquers hills to win Men’s Olympic Marathon

Tola conquers hills to win Men’s Olympic Marathon

By on • ( 0 )

By Clay Shaw
All Photography Courtesy of Michael Scott

August 10, 2024, Paris, France, 33rd Olympic Games—Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia won the men’s hilly Paris Olympic Marathon in an Olympic Games record of 2:06:26.

Tola was added to the Ethiopian Olympic marathon team two weeks prior to the event.  He replaced Sisay Lemma, the 2024 Boston Marathon, who had an injury.  Ethiopia has a strong contingent of marathoners and Tola was a well-credentialed replacement.  Tola won the 2022 World Athletics championship marathon in Eugene, and last year he won the 2023 New York City Marathon.  

The marathon started at Hotel De Ville (Paris City Hall) in the heart of Central Paris.  The start line temperature was 62 degrees at the 8 AM start in Paris.  (Clay and Karen were up at 2 AM EDT to watch intently.)

Eyob Faniel of Italy broke away from a rather pedestrian start through 5k in the turns on the streets of Central Paris, passing the Louvre and other iconic Paris sights. Mongolian Ser-Od Bat-Ochir and Canada’s Rory Linkletter were leading the huge group through the 5k point.  Faniel led by as much as 23 seconds through the 15k point as the course began to roll on their way to Versailles.

Faniel was caught by Tola and American Conner Mantz at 21k, and by the time the course turned for the southern route back toward Paris at the Chateau de Versailles, the lead pack grew to eight.  At the base of the dreaded hills of 10% grade near 29k, the pack grew to fifteen men.  USA had both Conner Mantz and Clayton Young in the mix. 

Tamirat Tola began to surge on the uphill and soon he was alone for the remainder of the way and the solo victory.  Tola did look around on several occasions, perhaps just a glance or two at the Eiffel Tower.  Tola won in 2:06:26.  Bashir Abdi of Belgium, the 2021 Sapporo Olympic Marathon bronze medalist, was second in 2:06:47, earning silver in Paris.  Benson Kipruto of Kenya was third in 2:07:00.  Kipruto ran 2:02:16 in Tokyo earlier this year, the fastest time in the world in 2024.  The former Olympic Marathon record of 2:06:32 was set by the late Sammy Wanjiru at the 2008 Beijing games

Sixteen men broke 2:10. The USA duo of Conner Mantz, eighth in 2:08:12, and Clayton Young, ninth in 2:08:44, ran solid races. 

Tebello Ramakongoana of Lesotho, set a national record of 2:07:58 finishing seventh. He is trained by James McKirdy in Flagstaff, AZ.  Yaseen Abdalla of Sudan ran a national record of 2:11:41 finishing 33rd; he will be running for the University of Tennessee this autumn.  The third USA runner, Leonard Korir of Colorado Springs, finished 63rd in 2:18:45. Ser-Od Bat Ochir of Mongolia was the 71st and final finisher in 2:42:33; he has competed in six Olympic games.  Like Bekele, he’s 42, but eight months older.

Two-time Olympic Champion Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya dropped out at 30k with back pain.  Legendary Ethiopian distance runner Kenenisa Bekele finished 39th in 2:12:24. He’s 42 now and has 5000 meter and 10000-meter gold medals from the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. 

Full Results

Top Finishers

  1. 2:06:26 Tamirat Tola, Ethiopia
  2. 2:06:47 Bashir Abdi, Belgium
  3. 2:07:00 Benson Kipruto, Kenya
  4. 2:07:29 Emile Cairess, Great Britain
  5. 2:07:31 Deresa Geleta, Ethiopia
  6. 2:07:32 Akira Akasaki, Japan
  7. 2:07:58 Tebello Ramakongoana, Lesotho
  8. 2:08:12 Conner Mantz, United States
  9. 2:08:44 Clayton Young, United States
  10. 2:08:56 Samsom Amare, Eritrea
  11. 2:09:07 Elroy Gelant, South Africa
  12. 2:09:18 Richard Ringer, Germany
  13. 2:09:25 Suguru Osako, Japan
  14. 2:09:31 Ibrahim Hassan, Djibouti
  15. 2:09:50 Samuel Fitwi Sibhatu, Germany
  16. 2:09:56 Nicolas Navarro, France
  17. 2:10:03 Alphonce Simbu, Tanzania
  18. 2:10:06 Othmane El Goumri, Morocco
  19. 2:10:09 Isaac Mpofu, Zimbabwe
  20. 2:10:09 Hassan Chahdi, France
Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia ran away from the Olympic Marathon field on the hills. He set a new Olympic Marathon record of 2:06:26 with his victory. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Bashir Abdi of Belgium charges toward the finish, winning silver in 2:06:47. Abdi won bronze at the 2021 Olympic Marathon. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Benson Kipruto of Kenya earns the bronze with a 2:07:00. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Emile Cairess of Great Britain was fourth in 2:07:29. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Deresa Geleta of Ethiopia was fifth in 2:07:31. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Akira Akasaki of Japan was sixth in 2:07:32. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Tebello Ramakongoana of Lesotho set a new national record of 2:07:58 and finished seventh. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Conner Mantz of Utah USA was top American, finishing eighth in 2:08:12. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Clayton Young of Utah USA was ninth in 2:08:44. USA had two men in the top ten. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Yaseen Abdalla of Sudan was 33rd and set a new national record of 2:11:41. He will run for the University of Tennessee this fall.
(Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia was 39th in 2:12:24. The 42-year-old all-time great has four Olympic golds, doubling in the 5000 & 10000 meter races in both 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing. He has 11 golds at World XC as well. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Rory Linkletter of Canada was 47th in 2:13:09. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Hugo Catrileo of Chile was 59th in 2:15:44. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Leonard Korir of Colorado Springs, CO, USA was 63rd in 2:18:45. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Valentin Betoudji of Chad was 70th in 2:32:11. The Paris Olympics offered spots to some countries rarely represented. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
Two-time Olympic Marathon champ Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya in the pack at 5k in Central Paris. Kipchoge dropped out at 30k. Hector Garibay of Bolivia was 60th in 2:15:54. Connor Mantz of Utah was 8th in 2:08:12. (Photo courtesy of Michael Scott)
‹
›

Categories: Race Coverage

Tags: , , ,

Leave a comment