Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon
| Men's marathon at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
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Beginning of the competition in the rain
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| Venue | Sambódromo | ||||||||||||
| Date | 21 August 2016 | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 155 from 80 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 2:08:44 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Eliud Kipchoge |
 Kenya
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Feyisa Lilesa |
 Ethiopia
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Galen Rupp |
 United States
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The men's marathon at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro took place on the Sambódromo on 21 August, the final day of the Games.
The race began at the Sambódromo in a light rain, with temperatures about 24 °C (75 °F). The field size of 155 starters was an Olympic Games record as well as the 140 finishers. The previous record was 124 starters and 111 finishers at the 1996 Olympic marathon in Atlanta. The 2016 race also had the most countries represented of any Olympic marathon and despite the weather conditions a record 62 men finished under 2:20:00 to show the quality and depth of the field.
The lead pack jogged comfortably through almost the first 15 kilometers, when Eliud Kipchoge injected a little speed into the race. By that point the pack was 62 men, that went from a line across the street shoulder to shoulder to a string chasing the leader. 46 still were hanging onto the lead group at the half way point. Nine more dropped off by 25K. Over the next 5K, the pace gradually increased, losing the defending champion Stephen Kiprotich reigning world champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, though he was hanging on off the back. At 30K there were only 8 still running together at the front. Lemi Berhanu seemed to be leading the increase of speed, calling back for his teammate Feyisa Lilesa to keep up. Within 2 km, the lead pack was down to four, the two Ethiopians, Kipchoge and Galen Rupp. In the next kilometer, Berhanu fell off the back. By 33K, the medalists were decided. At 35K, Rupp was just behind Lilesa and Kipchoge. Rupp lost contact at the following water station. Shortly after losing Rupp, Lilesa was immediately behind Kipchoge and apparently clipped his heels. Kipchoge was angry, motioning to Lilesa to run next to him, to use the rest of the street. Lilesa didn't respond, Kipchoge accelerated away. From that point, as the course snaked around buildings, the three leaders lost sight of each other as the gaps between them increased. Slightly less than a minute behind the leaders, Ghebreslassie was speeding past the other stragglers. At 40K, Kipchoge had 36 seconds over Lilesa, Rupp another 12 seconds back and Ghebreslassie 59 seconds behind Rupp. Over the lengthy straight finish, Kipchoge expanded his lead to 1:10, giving the thumbs up to the crowd as he finished at 2:08:44. Lilesa struggled but still held 11 seconds ahead of Rupp. Lilesa crossed his arms several time before crossing the finish line at 2:09:54. Rupp finished at 2:10:05 still 59 seconds up on Ghebreslassie.
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