Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola Wins Men's Marathon at Paris Olympic Games

Paris 2024 Olympic Games Day 10: Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola won the Olympic gold medal in the men’s marathon setting an Olympic record of 2:06:46 on a hot and humid morning in Paris. The previous Olympic record had been held by late Kenyan runner Samuel Wanjiru with 2:06:32 since Beijing 2008. 

Tola added this medal to his collection which features the Olympic bronze medal in the 10000 metres in Rio de Janeiro 2016, two world medals (silver in London 2017 and gold in Eugene 2022). Last November he won the New York Marathon in 2:04:58. 

Tola has followed in the footsteps of his illustrious compatriots who won the Olympic gold in the past: Abebe Bikila (Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964), Mamo Wolde (Mexico City 1968) and Gezahegne Abera /Sydney 2000). 

Tola is the first Ethiopia’s gold medallist at the Paris Olympic Games. 

Tamirat Tola: “I am happy today because I fulfilled my goal. I prepared well. I trained hard so I could win. In my life this is my greatest achievement. I was the reserve in the Ethiopian team, but when Sisay Lemma had injuries, then I had the chance to represent him. I was prepared and I knew I could fulfil my dream. I am happy to do that today. This the Olympics. It is not easy to win the Olympic Games, not at all. I am very proud” 

Belgium’s Bashir Abdi earned the silver medal in 2:06.47 finishing just one second in 2:06.47 three years after winning bronze in Tokyo. Abdi recently recovered from a hip injury. 

Bashir Abdi: “The course was very hard today. I tried not to lose a lot of energy. I tried to run as smartly as possible, so I am very happy with this result. The weather was hot, the terrain featured a lot of ups and downs. I expected going uphill would be challenging, but I found going downhill most difficult. It was very steep and you don’t have control of your body. That was very scary, especially after the 29 km. We had almost 2 km of running downhill and it was just going more down and down, and I was really afraid of falling” 

Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, winner at the Tokyo Marathon in a world leading team of 2:02:16, won the bronze medal in 2:07:00. 

Benson Kipruto: “This was the hardest marathon I have run, and a different experience because it was my first Olympic Games. I saw Tola pushing but I said: ‘no, it’s too early’, so I tried to close the gap slowly”. 

Emile Cairess from Great Britain crossed the finish-line in 2:07:27 after moving past Deresa Geleta from Ethiopia in the final stages of the race. Geleta placed fifth in 2:07:31, one second ahead of Japan’s Akira Akasaki, who improved his PB to 2:07:32. 

Italy’s Eyob Faniel made the first move, opening up a gap of 23 seconds over the rest of the field at 15 km, which he passed in 45:23. 

The chasing pack, led by Deresa Geleta, Akira Akasaki and Elroy Gelant from South Africa caught up with Faniel at the 25 km, which they passed in 1:16:08. 

Tola made his move on a climb from 27 km to 29 km, the hardest stretch of the course. The Ethiopian runner pulled away from his rivals building up a 11 second-lead as he went through the 30 km mark in 1:32:12. 

Tola increased to 18 seconds at 35 km and 22 seconds at 40 km. 

Three-time Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele finished 39th in 2:12:24. 

Kenenisa Bekele: “Around 15 km my harmstring felt stretched, so I could not do any more after that. Even after the 10 km I could feel the strain, so I knew I could not catch up with the leaders. It is fantastic that Ethiopia won the race. Tola is very strong and I am very happy with him”. 

Two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge dropped out shortly after the 30 km.

Paris 2024 Olympic Games Men's Marathon Results.

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