Olympic Track And Field Aug. 10 Morning Review: Marathon Racing Commences

Conner Mantz, Clayton Young and Leonard Korir tackle the 26.2 mile distance on behalf of Team USA to lead off Day 10 festivities at the Paris Olympic Games.

Aug 10, 2024 by Mark Dwyer

Olympic Track And Field Aug. 10 Morning Review: Marathon Racing Commences

We've arrived at the penultimate day of athletics competition for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Day 10 festivities kick-off with the men's marathon competition.

Also on tap will be men's high jump, men's 800 meters, women's javelin throw, women's 100 meter hurdles, men's 5000 meters, women's 1500 meters and men's and women's 4x400 meter relays.

Follow our live-updates blog below:

2:00 a.m. EST: Men's Marathon

The men's marathon is underway from Hotel de Ville in Paris.

Through 4-kilometers in just over 12:40, training partners Conner Mantz and Clayton Young are among the lead group.

Leaders are now through the 5km marker in 15:40. A measured pace early, as the runners brace themselves for the hills which begin at kilometer 15. For comparison, back in Tokyo, the leaders took it through 5km in 15:17.

Nearing the 8-kilometer point, with the Eiffel Tower in view, beautiful conditions have greeted the marathoners this morning. 63-degrees and sunny as we approach 8:30 am local time.

In 30:59, the lead pack, which includes Utah native Conner Mantz, are now through 10-kilometers. A little quicker for the second 5km at approximately 4:56 per mile pace.

Eyob Faniel broke away from the leaders at 11km and has now extended his gap on the field by the 13.5km point. Eliud Kipchoge is among the front-runners in the chase pack.

Now at 18-kilometers, Faniel maintains his lead with a 19-second cushion.

As we approach an hour of racing, Kipchoge has fallen back and can be seen holding his left side.

Halfway home in 1:04.51, it's a lead pack of three, which includes Conner Mantz.

It's now Ethiopian Tamirat Tola and Conner Mantz leading at 22-kilometers with duo breaking away slightly from the early leader Faniel.

A new leader emerges as we go through 25km, it's Akira Akasaki of Japan in 1:16:08. This was the fastest 5km segment of the race thus far with the field capitalizing on sustained descents.

Approximately 15 men make up the lead group, as they traverse through 27-kilometers.

A devastating hill climb greets the runners at 28.5 km with Tamirat Tola demonstrating his strength, pulling away from the field.

Tola crests the 30 km marker in 1:31.11, showing no ill effects from the hills.

Tola continues to lead through 35-kilometers. The 32-year-old hits the mat in 1:45.14 ahead of his nearest competitors by 18-seconds. Conner Mantz and Clayton Young trail Tola currently by 1:00 and 1:05, respectively. Kipchoge is now approximately 8:30 off the lead.

At 40 km, Tola has built up what appears to be an insurmountable lead with a 19-spread on the chase pack. He's at 2:00.02 with 2.2km left to negotiate. He is on Olympic record pace.

Tola caps off the victory!

A remarkable effort from the Ethiopian; Tamirat Tola produces a 2:06.26 Olympic record time to win the gold medal!

He eclipses the previous record set by the late Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya, who clocked 2:06.32 to capture gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Joining Tola on the medal podium will be Abdi Bashir (Belgium), who took silver in 2:06.47 and Kenyan Benson Kipruto, who claimed bronze in 2:07.00.

Conner Mantz finished 8th overall in 2:08.12 and Clayton Young secured the 9th position in 2:08.44.

Rounding out the American trio was Leonard Korir in 63rd with a 2:18.45 finishing time.

As a final note on Eluid Kipchoge, unfortunately the legendary Kenyan posted a DNF. He bowed out of the race shortly after the 18-mile marker.

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