Jelagat Sumgong wins first women's marathon gold for Kenya
Sumgong crossed the line nine seconds ahead of Eunice Kirwa of Bahrain
Jelagat Sumgong crosses the finish line with a time of 2:24:04 to become the first Kenyan woman to take the marathon gold medal. (Photo: Getty Images/Johannes Eisele))
Jelagat Sumgong became the first Kenyan to win the women's Olympics marathon on Sunday (14 August), delivering her country's first gold of the Rio de Janeiro Games.
"I'm so happy, I feel extremely proud," Sumgong said. "I can't even explain what I'm feeling."
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Sumgong completed the course in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 4 seconds ahead of Kenyan-born Eunice Kirwa, who now runs for Bahrain. World champion Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia took bronze.
Unlike the annual Rio marathon, the Olympic route didn't go near the eye-catching beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. It started and finished in hot and sunny conditions at the Sambódromo structure used for the world famous Carnival parades every February.
The crowd roars as Sumgong approaches the finish line (Photo: Getty Images)
"It was very hot but everybody had to get through the heat," Sumgong said. "I had to control my body and listen to my body very carefully."
"I was never worried that I'd lose this," Sumgong said. "At 40 kilometres, I knew the gold was mine. At 35 kilometres, I noticed that my other two team-mates had dropped off, and that gave me the motivation to carry on.
"At 40 kilometres, I saw there were three of us, but I knew whatever happened, I couldn't lose the gold and then I knew I was on the way to history."
Sumgong passes the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio's rejuvenated port area (Photo: Getty Images/Matthias Hangst)
