LONDON MARATHON
A day to remember as Scottish athletes seal their places at Rio Games
I saw Dennis Kimetto’s vest and thought ‘surely not’, then I went past him. It’s still amazing to get that scalp. He’s the world record holder.
PUNCHING the air as he cantered nonchalantly over the line, Callum Hawkins could afford to brush off the chill of London as he contemplated the warm waters of Rio. The 23-year-old from Kilbarchan is Olympic-bound after finishing as the leading Brit at yesterday’s Virgin Money London Marathon, his eighth-place finish, secured in a personal best of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 52 seconds, enough to secure his ticket to Brazil quite emphatically.
He will have familiar faces joining him, one at least and perhaps even two. With the British team to be confirmed tomorrow, he will assuredly be partnered with Shettleston Harriers’ Tsegai Tewelde, whose audacious pursuit of the leaders waned somewhat, but not enough to deny him 12th and the second automatic berth. Tewelde reached The Mall in 2:12:23 in his first attempt at the distance, writing a new chapter in a quite incredible story which saw him injured in a landmine blast aged eight and claim asylum in Scotland while competing here for Eritrea in 2008.
With a potential third spot left to the selectors’ discretion, the elder Hawkins brother, Derek, made a convincing case for a familial double by coming just 34 seconds and two places behind in the quickest time of his life, to complete a Scottish 1-2-3 in what was designated as the Olympic trials.
At the front, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge was spearheading a charge towards the world record, eventually falling a mere eight seconds short as he repeated his 2015 victory in 2:03:05, eventually eluding his compatriot Stanley Biwott with Ethiopian legend Kenesisa Bekele third.
Behind, Callum Hawkins was rapidly accelerating, overtaking the still-quickest man ever, Dennis Kimetto, as he thundered past Buckingham Palace towards his own coronation in only his second attempt at the marathon.
“I saw his vest and recognised his colours and thought: ‘Surely not’,” said Hawkins. “Then, I passed him and he tried to hold on for a bit. I knew it was just because he was struggling, but it’s still amazing to get that scalp. He’s the world record holder.
“My age is pretty young compared to everyone else, so you never know what’s going to happen now.
“I was feeling brilliant at the halfway stage and put in a big effort. I didn’t even run with a watch. I was just running.
“My brother had his own plan. We train together, live in the same house. I’m chuffed for him to be in the top three, take a minute off his PB and maybe get selection as well.”
The tale of the two brothers competing for Olympic glory is one thing. Tewelde’s story, though, is something else entirely.
His grandfather and nine-year-old brother became landmine fatalities with the former goatherd, part of an Eritrean squad that competed at the world cross-country championships in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park, fleeing by train to Glasgow with five team-mates to beg for political asylum eight years ago amid fears of conscription into the army and a regime infused with brutality. The athletics community in Glasgow’s east end furnished him with a new home and a fresh start. Now he will represent them – and the UK – as an Olympian. “I had a bomb accident when I was eight years old,” said an emotional Tewelde last night. “I had a serious injury, five places on my body, scar on my head. I’m feeling very, very tired after the race, but I got through it.”
He can rest easy. Derek Hawkins, on the other hand, will have a nervous 24 hours before learning if he can plan for Rio. Two minutes speedier than his prior best set in 2012, there is no chance the 26-year-old will pass up a summons to Brazil, two years after he spurned a call to run at the world championships in Moscow.
“I hope they’ll take me,” he declared. “I’m outside the top 32 in the rankings but I’ll lobby it until I’m blue in the face. I managed to beat Scott Overall and Chris Thompson who have run 2:10, 2:11 and I was inside the British qualifying standard on the day. I was over six minutes inside the IAAF standard. I was first Brit at the Commonwealth Games so I hope that shows I’ve a history of performing on the day.”
Former 1,500m world champion Steve Cram covered the race for BBC and was hugely impressed by the respective displays of the Hawkins brothers.
“What a brilliant performance from Callum,” said Cram. “He ran a strong, clever race. He didn’t get carried away early on.
“I remember when Callum was a youngster, watching him in crosscountry races, and it is great to see him come to such prominence.
“He was hurting, he was sore, but he kept it going and judged it perfectly.
“Derek Hawkins has also run a brilliant race. He hasn’t timed it quite right, but he is inside the qualifying mark. It is not a guaranteed spot, but it may well be good enough for the selectors to look favourably on him.”
Kenya’s Jemima Sumgong recovered from a nasty fall with six miles left to edge out Ethiopia’s defending champion Tigist Tufa in the women’s race in a time of 2:22:58.
With Alyson Dixon and Sonia Samuels nailing down Olympic qualification in 13th and 14th place, Scottish duo Freya Ross and Susan Partridge were cast adrift with the former 18th and the latter dropping out.
“I just didn’t have it on the day,” Ross, returning to the distance after injury, conceded. “But I went for it, put myself on the line and gave it my best shot.”
Marcel Hug and Tatyana McFadden took the adjoining IPC Para titles with Derek Rae’s personal best of 2:37:28 likely enough to see him to the Paralympics. “It’s out of my hands now, but I would love to be there,” the 31-year-old Fifer said.