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Wanjiru Sets Olympic Marathon Record in Victory

Posted August 23rd, 2008 at 10:01 PM by Jared Markowitz

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

Kenya’s Samuel Wanjiru used a blistering early pace and a late race surge to shatter the Olympic Record in winning the final distance event of these Games. Wanjiru’s time of 2:06:32 broke the old record by an astounding 2:49 and is even more remarkable considering the sweltering conditions in which he performed. Wanjiru was joined on the podium by silver medalist Jaouad Gharib of Morocco (2:07:16) and Tsegay Kebede of Ethiopia (2:10:00). Despite his country’s dominance on the world marathon circuit, Wanjiru’s triumph was the first Olympic gold medal for Kenya.

The storylines prior to this race were focused mainly on the Kenyan contingent and their goal of ending their gold medal drought. Despite the withdrawal of four-time Boston Marathon champ Robert Cheruiyot, the Kenyan squad of Wanjiru, multiple-time New York and London champ Martin Lel, and reigning World Champion Luke Kibet would prove formidable. The Kenyans were expected to face stiff competition from the Moroccan and Ethiopian teams as well as notable individual challengers such as American Ryan Hall. Perhaps the biggest challenge for every runner in the field would be the conditions, as a flat course would be offset by the heat and humidity typical of summer in Beijing.

The race began at 7:30 am this morning with the temperature in the mid-70s and humidity around 70%. The temperature would climb into the 80s and the humidity would increase as the race progressed, but the decent early conditions encouraged some runners to set an ambitious pace from the start. At the gun the three Kenyans (Wanjiru, Lel, and Kibet) moved straight to the front and started hammering along with Jaouad Gharib (MOR), Tsegay Kebede (ETH), Deriba Merga (ETH), Yared Asmeron (ERI), Abderrahim Goumri (MOR), Jose Manuel Martinez (ESP), Yonas Kifle (ERI), and several others. The leaders went through the first four 5k splits in 14:52, 14:34, 15:11, and 14:33.

The half was reached in 1:02:34, a pace that appeared suicidal given the heat oppressive heat the competitors had to face. By the 15 mile mark the pace had slackened just a touch, with only five men remaining in contention: Wanjiru, Lel, Kifle, Merga, and Gharib. Shortly thereafter Yonas Kifle was dropped and then Martin Lel fell off shortly before the 20 mile mark, which was reached in a still impressive 1:35:52. Morocco’s Jaouad Gharib went through several tough stretches in the middle part of the race but was always able to reel the leaders back in. Wanjiru was the first to test the lead pack, throwing in a significant surge with about 4 miles remaining to quickly drop Merga and Gharib. From there Wanjiru continued to build his lead all the way to the finish, with Gharib hanging on for silver. Merga was passed by fellow Ethiopian Tsegay Merga on the track in the Bird’s Nest but hung on for fourth, while Lel finished fifth.

Behind the leaders, the American team had a strong showing in this edition of the Games. All three Americans (Dathan Ritzenhein, Ryan Hall, and Brian Sell) elected to take a more conservative approach at the start and were able to catch many of their competitors in the latter stages of the race. Ritzenhein had a particularly strong showing in placing 9th in 2:11:59 while Ryan Hall was right behind him in 10th (2:12:33). Brian Sell ran a well-paced race to finish 22nd in 2:16:07.

In the end, this race was about the immense talent of the 21 year old Samuel Wanjiru. Wanjiru lives and trains in Japan and has set the World Record in the half marathon three times, most recently at 58:33. He has fared similarly well in the marathon, with his 2:05:24 second place finish in London this spring his most significant achievement prior to today. He figures to continue his meteoric rise, and should be a fixture on the international marathon scene for years to come.