The women’s marathon was the final event in athletics at the Olympic Games, and it promised to be a thrilling contest between the powerhouses of Ethiopia and Kenya. The field is packed with talent, setting the stage for a fierce battle for the podium.
All The Big Names On The Start
Ethiopia is led by Tigist Assefa, the current world record holder, known for her incredible speed. However, the question remains: can she conquer the challenging hills of the course? And how will she deal with a championship-style race with no pacers that is equally about tactics as it is about fitness?
Joining her are Megertu Alemu, who clocked an impressive 2:16 to secure fourth place in the 2024 London Marathon, and Amane Beriso Shankule, the 2023 World Champion and 2022 Valencia Marathon winner with a personal best of 2:14, the fifth-fastest time ever by a woman. Shankule also has a runner-up finish in Boston to her name.
Kenya’s lineup is equally as impressive.
Reigning Olympic Champion Peres Jepchirchir, fresh off a 2:16 victory at the 2024 London Marathon, where she also set the women’s-only world record, has proven herself on both hilly and flat courses.
She is joined by Hellen Obiri and Sharon Lokedi, both of whom have also tasted success in Boston and New York, making them strong contenders if they are in top form.
Obiri has proven her consistency and ability to thrive on challenging courses, with two wins in Boston and one in New York. She’s a racing veteran, having already attended the two previous editions in Tokyo and Rio. However, this will be Obiri’s first time taking on the marathon at the Olympics.
The Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan is always a thrilling name to watch in the race. She will take on the marathon after competing in the 10,000m less than 48 hours prior, where she claimed bronze and also won bronze in the 5000m earlier in the week. As the second-fastest female marathoner ever, her greatest competitor will be her grueling Olympic schedule.
How The Race Played Out
The race started similarly to the men’s race, which was very conservative (for them), with the main pack running around 2:26-2:28 pace.
It wasn’t until just before the climbing began that we saw a few sparks fly. Mélody Julien of France steadily increased her pace and managed to distance herself from the group. However, her solo effort didn’t last long as defending Olympic Champion Jepchirchir decided enough was enough and, with a stark surge in pace, easily bridged over to Julien.
This created a big reaction in the main group, as they didn’t want to let the defending champion get too far out on her own. A big increase in pace from the group left all but 13 runners behind, creating a strong selection of front runners. This included all three runners from Kenya and Ethiopia and Dutch standout Hassan, who was running her third event and fourth race at these Olympic Games.
Julien, a French athlete in front of a home crowd, was out front of the group for most of the climbing, and the group was happy to keep her in arm’s reach.
Just after the halfway mark, American Dakotah Lundwurm decided to test the rest of the group and put in a bit of a surge to open a gap to the rest of the group. Two runners reacted and joined her upfront, and the trio created a gap of about six seconds to the others.
Coming into the final notable climb, the group of leaders began to crack as the Ethiopian runners and Kenyan runners took charge at the front. Hassan began to fall off the back, and the group of 12 soon became a small group of five, with two Ethiopians and three Kenyans. The downhill then brought five runners back to the front group.
Around the 33K mark, a shocking turn of events occurred, and defending champion Jepchirchir began to get distanced from the group of leaders. She had been looking and running extremely strong throughout the race before getting dropped, making it completely unexpected.
The race came down to a final group of five coming into the final 5K comprised of two Ethiopian runners, Assefa and Amane Shankule, two Kenyan runners, Obiri and Lokedi, and Hassan of the Netherlands.
In a thrilling and fast sprint finish, it was Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands who finished off her Olympic triple on the highest note and was crowned as the new Olympic Champion with a new Olympic record time of 2:22:55.
Late Contact Between Sifan Hassan and Tigst Assefa
WHAT A FINISH!
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2024
Sifan Hassan sets an OLYMPIC RECORD in the women's marathon to win gold and her third medal of the #ParisOlympics! pic.twitter.com/qMQHsdntPH
In the second to last slight turn of the race, with just a couple hundred meters to go to the finish, Hassan appeared to bump or shove Assefa slightly as the Dutch runner took the tightest line.
Assefa momentarily lost balance and nearly stumbled, but quickly regained her composure and continued to keep pace, before ultimately falling a few steps back in the closing straightaway.
It was a controversial ending that’s sure to stir up some debate, and it’s unclear if the Ethiopian team is going to contest the result.
That left the world record holder Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia with the silver medal, finishing in a time of 2:22:58. Rounding out the podium was Hellen Obiri of Kenya at 2:23:10.
Another embed for our non-American readers who can’t watch the NBC clip above:
Schieten jullie hier ook van vol?
— Sanny~Zoet (@ZoetSanny) August 11, 2024
GODSAMMUHHHH HASSANNNNN…. #marathon #Hassan pic.twitter.com/x5qE9CaTGd
Sifan Hassan’s Olympic Marathon Splits
The gold medalist and new Olympic marathon record holder’s gradual progression through the race reveal how she was able to manage racing a total of 38.6 miles ( or 62.195 kilometers) in less than a week. She didn’t lead the race once until the final few hundred meters, and negative split the marathon by four minutes, five seconds, which is especially impressive given that there is a steep 600m climb at 28.7 kilometers.
| Distance | Time | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 5 km | 17:28 | 42 |
| 10 km | 34:38 | 34 |
| 15 km | 51:14 | 13 |
| 20 km | 1:09:35 | 15 |
| Half | 1:13:25 | 11 |
| 25 km | 1:26:37 | 6 |
| 30 km | 1:44:02 | 6 |
| 35 km | 1:59:43 | 6 |
| 40 km | 2:16:10 | 5 |
| Finish | 2:22:55 | 1 |
