Olympic Marathon

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Julia Mayer

(Bild: Olaf Brockmann)

Brave Olympic performance by Julia Mayer! She started the women's marathon on the final day with the 87th entry time, finishing in 55th place after 2:35:14 hours! The victory went to Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands.

Julia Mayer had prepared more meticulously for the challenge of the Olympic marathon in Paris than probably any other athlete. Especially for the 450 meters of elevation gain, the most poisonous of which were on the way to Versailles and on the way back from the south-eastern suburb, particularly as the latter section also included some steep downhill sections. "That's the biggest challenge of all," explained Mayer. "How much can I let it roll?"

She had trained on a route with Nussberg and Kahlenberg in Vienna. "That was the hardest training I've ever had," Mayer moaned in the run-up to the race. Especially as coach Vincent Vermeulen had demanded that she lengthen her stride. "Every time my stride got shorter, he shouted at me." But as she also explained, she is putting herself through this tough training because everything has worked out so far and she has steadily improved under Vermeulen, who follows a highly scientific approach. That also worked today.

The Austrian set off from the start in front of the Paris City Hall with the 87th entry time out of 91 starters, but as expected, she did extremely well in the difficult conditions. Some participants gave up early on, others started too quickly. Mayer fought bravely over the 42.195 kilometers and moved up place by place. She was 78th after 15 kilometers, 74th at the halfway point and 65th after 35 kilometers. As she had hoped, Mayer had more energy left than many others on the final stretch, finishing 55th in front of the Invalides in 2:35:14.

The steep climb between the 27th and 30th kilometer proved to be particularly brutal, with the leading group having to abandon one runner after the other, including the co-favorite Sifan Hassan (NED). At the top of this hill there were initially only five runners at the front, two from Ethiopia and three from Kenya. But four more athletes, including Hassan, caught up again. Shortly afterwards, however, the group split again and this time the world record holder Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) was unable to follow.

Jostling in the final bends
One of the most exciting marathon finals ever followed! Even after 40 kilometers, a quintet remained with the Ethiopian-born Hassan, the two Kenyans Hellen Obiri and Sharon Lokedi and the Ethiopians Tigst Assefa and Amane Shankule. The pace increased and Shankule was the first to break away, followed by Lokedi after just over 41 kilometers. Assefa increased the pace in the final meters, but Hassan was able to follow.

Sifan Hassan took the Olympic victory.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Andrej ISAKOVIC)

The Ethiopian tried to hold on to her lead on the tight finishing bends and there was even a brief scrap before the Dutchwoman, who had already won bronze in the 5000 and 10,000 meters in Paris, found a way past and played to her sprinting strengths. In 2:22:55 she set a new Olympic record, as did Tamirat Tola (ÄTH) the day before. Assefa took silver in 2:22:58, Obiri took bronze in 2:23:10.