Ugandan Kiprotich end Kenyan marathon dominance to take gold
30th Olympic Games comes to a close in London
In spite of training in England for four years, Cooray finished 55th out of the 103 runners who faced the starter. His time was a poor 2:20.41.
If Jamaican Usain Bolt is the best in the short run, Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda while breaking the Kenyan iron grip of the marathon proved that he is the best in the long run. In a very impressive show at the last major running event of the 2012 – 30th Olympics in London, Kiprotich won the marathon in a time of 2 hours 08.1 minutes to take the gold medal, yesterday.
As expected the second and third places went to Abel Kirui and Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich of Kenya who finished the course in 2 hours 08.27minutes and 2 hours 09.37 minutes respectively, to take silver and bronze.
Stephen Kiprotich whose life’s ambition was to win an Olympic medal was inspired into running by former marathon runner Francis Musani. "I used to see Musani and other boys jogging near our home in the morning. I chose running after seeing them several times. There was a teacher called Patrick Chemonges who always encouraged me to run." Stephen said after his victory.
For Sri Lankan Indrajith Cooray it was a huge disappointment. Cooray, who finished the course in the 30th place in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, did far worse this time. In spite of training in Eng- land for four years, Cooray finished 55th out of the 103 runners who faced the starter. His time was a poor 2:20.41.
In the early stages Brazil’s Franck de Almeida sprung into the lead with two Kenyans -- Emmanuel Kipchirchir Mutai and Abel Kirui hot on his trail. Then thirty year old Kenyan Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich jumped ahead and held it with a sizable lead, yet the race was a long way to go. The race was only 17km’s completed.
By the 18th kilo metre the first ten of the race was an all African continent affair with Kipsang Kiprotich building up with a good speed. At the completion of the 20thkm Kipsang Kiprotich was still in the lead and building up, leaving behind the rest of the competition. He finished the halfway mark in 1:03.15.
By the 25th kilo metre another Kiprotich had joined the top three. This time challenge came to second placed Abel Kirui from Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich. By the 27th kilo metre the top three contenders were in a bunch. At the 30thkm still the bunch of the top three were together with an identical time of 1:30.15.
By the 35th km the two top Kenyans left the third placed Ugandan slightly behind. Yet, by the 36th km the 23-year-old Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich had taken the lead and was speeding away. The question arose as to who out of these three would save stamina for the final sprint.
By the 40th kilo metre Stephen Kiprotich would have been dreaming of making history with a thin smile on his face. Yet, little he knew that he was away from both best timings of the event. The world record of this event is held by Patrick Makau Musyoki of Kenya with a time of 2:03.38 which was achieved in 2011 while the Olympic record of this event is held by Samuel Wanjiru at the Beijing Olympics, where he ran along to finish the course in 2:06.32.