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Wanjiru Crushes Olympic Marathon Record, Wins Kenya's First Gold Medal in Event
Gharib, Kebede win silver, bronze; Ritzenhein, Hall 9th, 10th
By Parker Morse, Running USA wire

BEIJING, China - (August 24, 2008) - It seems unlikely, but before Sunday morning, no Kenyan had ever won the Olympic Marathon. Samuel "Sammy" Wanjiru changed that by taking gold in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds, in the process chopping almost three minutes off the oldest men's Olympic record in running, Carlos Lopes' 2:09:21 in Los Angeles 1984. (Only Bob Beamon's 1968 long jump mark was older.)

"In Kenya, we have many medals," said Wanjiru, "but I'm glad to have this one."

To do it, Wanjiru took the same approach as Kenenisa Bekele did in lowering Said Aouita's 5000 meter OR Saturday evening. (Aouita's record was one day older than Lopes', the 5000m final having come one day before the marathon in Los Angeles as in Beijing.) Faced with the strongest marathon field in Olympic history, Wanjiru and his teammates Martin Lel and Luke Kibet set a fast pace early in the race, burned off most of the field early on, and then outlasted Moroccan Jaoud Gharib in the closing kilometers. Gharib, a two-time world champion at the marathon, was the silver medalist in 2:07:16, also under the previous Olympic record, while Ethiopian Tsegay Kebede took bronze in 2:10:00.

While the finishing times were relatively unremarkable for a top-level spring or autumn marathon, they were startlingly fast for the summer conditions in Beijing. The reported temperature at the start was 24C (75F), and under blue skies and strong sun the temperature climbed to 30C (86F) at the finish.

"I had to push the pace because my body gets tired in the heat when I slow down," said Wanjiru.

Wanjiru, not yet 22, already has a long history of fast road races, so the brisk pace suited him. With three world records at the half-marathon, including the current mark of 58:33, Wanjiru debuted at 2:06:39 in Fukuoka in 2007, then placed second in 2:05:24 in London 2008 behind Lel.

The Kenyan trio served notice of their intentions early, passing 5K (3.1 miles) in 14:52 and 10K in 29:25, well below Olympic record pace. By halfway (reached in a swift 1:02:34), the pack was down to five, including favorite Lel, Wanjiru, Yonas Kifle of Eritrea, Deriba Merga of Ethiopia and Gharib.

The Kenyans kept the pace uneven, moving to the front when they wished to press the pace, then letting Kifle and Merga lead to conserve their own energy. Gharib looked the worst off of the group, but somehow managed to maintain contact, sticking with the lead pack even when Merga made a move at 30K which shook both Lel and Kifle. (Lel would finish fifth in 2:10:24; Kifle 36th in 2:20:23.)

Merga was unable to shake Wanjiru, and when Wanjiru made what turned out to be the race-winning move at 35K, Merga couldn't even hold off Gharib, who stuck close to the Kenyan throughout but was unable to close the gap. Kebede, who had come off the pack before halfway, passed his countryman in the stadium to take bronze.

The fierce early pace and the conditions encouraged caution from U.S. marathoners, who stayed off the pace early and picked up places in the second half of the race. Dathan Ritzenhein was 30th at 5K and worked up to 9th at the finish (2:11:59), and Trials champion Ryan Hall was even more conservative at 42nd and moved up to 10th (2:12:33). It was the first time two American marathoners had top 10 finishes at the same Olympics since Frank Shorter and Don Kardong were second and fourth in 1976. Brian Sell was 22nd in 2:16:07 after going through 5K in 71st.

"I tried to put myself in it early," said Ritzenhein. "I came through 5K in 14:59, 2:06 pace, and I knew if I kept that up, I couldn't finish. I kept picking people off until I was 10th, at about 25K. Then I started cramping up pretty badly."

"The conditions out there were tough," said Hall. "It wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting, though. I did the best I could with what I had. Sometimes you do all the work and it comes together, and sometimes it doesn't."

Defending gold medalist Stefano Baldini of Italy was off the lead from the beginning but managed to finish 12th. "Four years ago my energy levels were higher," said Baldini. "I did the same [training] as ever, but there were too many stops, and not enough continuity."

Historically, Ritzenhein and Hall also produced the 4th and 6th fastest Olympic Marathon times by the U.S, and in the modern era, it was the second best U.S. men's team by place total with 41 points (9 + 10 + 22) behind the 1972 team of Frank Shorter, Kenny Moore and Jack Bacheler (1 + 4 + 9 = 14).

Olympic Games: Beijing
Streets of Beijing and finish at National Stadium / "Bird's Nest"
Sunday, August 24, 2008

Men's Marathon
1) Sammy Wanjiru (KEN), 2:06:32*, Gold
2) Jaouad Gharib (MAR), 2:07:16, Silver
3) Tsegay Kebede (ETH), 2:10:00, Bronze
4) Deriba Merga (ETH), 2:10:21
5) Martin Lel (KEN), 2:10:24
6) Viktor Röthlin (SUI), 2:10:35
7) Gashaw Asfaw (ETH), 2:10:52
8) Yared Asmerom (ERI), 2:11:11
9) Dathan Ritzenhein (USA), 2:11:59
10) Ryan Hall (USA), 2:12:33
22) Brian Sell (USA), 2:16:07
*Olympic record (previous record, 2:09:21, Carlos Lopes (POR), Los Angeles 1984)

Complete results, starts lists, daily schedule and more at: www.iaaf.org/OLY08/results/eventCode=3659/index.html

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Bekele Completes Olympic Double from the Front
Ethiopian joins Yifter, Viren, Kuts, Zatopek and Kolehmainen; also sets Olympic record
By Parker Morse, Running USA wire

BEIJING, China - (August 23, 2008) - Kenenisa Bekele accomplished another feat which had escaped the great Gebrselassie Saturday evening at the "Bird's Nest" when he added the 5000 meter Olympic gold medal to the 10,000 meter gold he won earlier in the week. The last man to win the Olympic 5000 and 10,000 double was also an Ethiopian, the great Miruts Yifter in 1980.

Bekele, 26, finished the double, which he attempted unsuccessfully in Athens, by bringing team tactics and fast-paced racing back to the Olympic 5000, and in the process smashed one of the oldest Olympic records in the men's list. By running 12:57.82 for the win, Bekele ran the first sub-13:00 5000m in Olympic history, and pulled silver medalist Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya under the old Olympic mark as well.

Kipchoge finished in 13:02.80, and the old record of 13:05.59 was set by Said Aouita in Los Angeles 1984. Bronze here in Beijing went to Kenyan Edwin Cheruiyot Soi in 13:06.22.

Despite successfully opting to sit in the back until the last lap of Sunday's 10,000m final, Bekele's tactics in the shorter race owed more to his experience in the Athens Olympics. When Bekele's attempt at the double came to grief in 2004, it was at the hands of 1500m gold medalist and consummate fast closer Hicham el Guerrouj of Morocco.

Bekele and his teammates concluded that a slower-paced race, the way most championship 5000m finals have been run recently, kept too many medal contenders in the picture. They resolved to work together to thin the pack down from the start.

Bekele, his younger brother Tariku, and their teammate Abreham Cherkos sprinted to the front of the 5000m final from the gun, and one of the green-vested Ethiopians controlled the pace for every meter of the race. For the first 3000m (reached in 8:00.85), the Bekele brothers and Cherkos took turns at the front, spelling each other frequently and progressively increasing the pace. After the 3000m mark, Bekele made a significant push, leaving his teammates behind and cutting the pack in half. Only the Kenyans Kipchoge and Soi, Ugandan Moses Kipsiro (the bronze medalist at the 2007 World Championships), World Champion Bernard Lagat of the USA and James Kwalia C'Kurui of Qatar covered the move; C'Kurui couldn't hang on to Bekele's pace long, and Lagat was the next one dropped.

Bekele pushed again with 1000 meters remaining to drop Kipsiro, and then after taking the bell for the last lap, he kicked as though he hadn't been running a brisk pace. Bekele's last 200 meters wasn't quite as swift as that of Jamaican star Usain Bolt, but he was equally as effective at making his competition look sluggish; his entire 5-second margin of victory over Kipchoge came in the last lap. "I expected myself to get the gold medal, but I lost it and he was faster," said Kipchoge philosophically.

With three Olympic gold medals and a silver, Bekele is now the most successful Olympian in Ethiopian history, surpassing Yifter, Gebrselassie and the great Abebe Bikila. Aouita's record was the second-oldest men's Olympic record in the books, exceeded in longevity only by Bob Beamon's legendary long jump mark in 1968. "I'm feeling good," said Bekele after his race. "It was a fantastic race and it was a fantastic day for me."

Lagat, the double World Champion at 1500m and 5000m last year in Osaka, finished both events without a medal in Beijing. In the 5000m, he finished 9th in 13:26.89, blaming a viral infection in his throat.

Teammate Matt Tegenkamp, 4th in this event in Osaka, was 13th in 13:33.13; Tegenkamp could only say, "I just didn't have it tonight. I have a lot of work to do and I know I need to get stronger."

Olympic Games: Beijing
National Stadium / "Bird's Nest"
Saturday, August 23, 2008

Men's 5000m Final
1) Kenenisa Bekele (ETH), 12:57.82*, Gold
2) Eliud Kipchoge (KEN), 13:02.80, Silver
3) Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (KEN), 13:06.22, Bronze
4) Moses Ndiema Kipsiro (UGA), 13:10.56
5) Abreham Cherkos (ETH), 13:16.46
6) Tariku Bekele (ETH), 13:19.06
7) Juan Luis Barrios (MEX), 13:19.79
8) James Kwalia C'Kurui (QAT), 13:23.48
9) Bernard Lagat (USA), 13:26.89
10) Kidane Tadasse (ERI), 13:28.40
13) Matt Tegenkamp (USA), 13:33.13
*Olympic record (previous record, 13:05.59, Said Aouita (MAR), Los Angeles 1984)

Complete results, starts lists, daily schedule and more at: www.iaaf.org/OLY08/results/eventCode=3659/index.html

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Dibaba Does Distance Double with 5000 Meter Victory
Tactical race comes down to the last fast 1000 meters
By Parker Morse, Running USA wire

BEIJING, China - (August 22, 2008) - The names were the same; even the times weren't far off. But the distance was halved on Friday evening at Beijing's National Stadium when Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba won the women's 5000 meters in 15:41.40, with Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey second in 15:42.74.

Dibaba's victory made her the first woman ever to win the Olympic 5000 / 10,000 double victory that made Miruts Yifter an Ethiopian hero at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. (Kenenisa Bekele, who won the men's 10,000m here, will attempt to duplicate Yifter's feat on Saturday evening.) Abeylegesse's silver medal double was similarly unprecedented. Bronze went to Dibaba's Ethiopian rival Meseret Defar, the defending gold medalist, in a time almost a minute quicker.

The early pace was almost comically slow as nobody in the field of fifteen wished to take the early lead. After "jogging" the first kilometer in 3:39.20 behind steeplechase gold medalist Gulnara Samitova-Galkina of Russia, on pace for a finishing time slower than eighteen minutes, Abeylegesse took the lead and pulled the pack through 2000 meters in 6:45.41, in the process shaking Canada's Megan Metcalfe and the USA's Jen Rhines. (Rhines admitted after the race that she was struggling with inflammation in her heel which hampered her ability to respond to the pace changes.) Samitova-Galkina took over again and slowed the pace slightly, crossing the 3000m mark in 9:58.13, still a pace within the abilities of many moderately talented collegiate athletes.

By then it was a foregone conclusion that the race would go to the best kickers, and Defar and Dibaba have both demonstrated repeatedly their ability to run sub-60 second closing laps even after races run at world record paces. Dibaba, 23, in particular, had run the second fastest 10,000m in history just a week earlier, and won that race from Abeylegesse in a kick.

It was Abeylegesse who finally made a bid for the victory, moving to the front with less than a kilometer remaining and desperately trying to break away. Her move pulled Dibaba and Defar away from the crowded pack, but could not drop them, and when Dibaba herself made her bid for the victory it took her less than 100 meters to get around Abeylegesse and set out on her own for home.

Defar, however, was unable to beat Abeylegesse to the line, and garnered the bronze in 15:44.12. Defar later blamed the crowded pack for her inability to kick with Dibaba, claiming that the jostling had left her tight and cramped when the race was finally on the line.

With Rhines 14th in 16:34.63, the USA's other finishers were Kara Goucher, 9th in 15:49.39, and Shalane Flanagan, bronze medalist behind Dibaba and Abeylegesse in the 10,000m, 10th here in 15:50.80, over a minute slower than her own U.S. record. Both women were in contact with the pack until the final kilometer but found themselves overmatched when it came to sprinting off the unusually slow starting pace.

"I have a lot of work to do. The pace was slow, but they're amazing athletes," said Goucher.

"I just had to deal with it," said Flanagan. "When they made a move with three laps to go, I couldn't get there fast enough and I think it cost me two or three spots."

Olympic Games: Beijing
National Stadium / "Bird's Nest"
Friday, August 22, 2008

Women's 5000m Final
1) Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH), 15:41.40, Gold
2) Elvan Abeylegesse (TUR), 15:42.74, Silver
3) Meseret Defar (ETH), 15:44.12, Bronze
4) Sylvia Jebiwott Kibet (KEN), 15:44.96
5) Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN), 15:46.32
6) Liliya Shobukhova (RUS), 15:46.62
7) Alemitu Bekele (TUR), 15:48.48
8) Meselech Melkamu (ETH), 15:49.03
9) Kara Goucher (USA), 15:49.39
10) Shalane Flanagan (USA), 15:50.80
14) Jen Rhines (USA), 16:34.63

Complete results, starts lists, daily schedule and more at: www.iaaf.org/OLY08/results/eventCode=3659/index.html

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Kichumbe Koech, Limika Win 32nd Crim 10 Mile
By Brian Smith

FLINT, Mich. - (August 23, 2008) - Kenyans Stephen Kichumbe Koech and Irene Limika are the race champions of the 32nd Crim 10 Mile. At the 8:00am start on Saturday, skies were sunny with a light haze and a temperature of 73 degrees with 70% humidity.

Running in his first Crim, and first race of the year, Kichume Koech, 32, won with a time of 48 minutes, 4 seconds and took home $5000. Daniel Kipkoech and a local high school runner pulled ahead the pack and were side-by-side up to the one mile mark. By the three mile mark, Kipkoech was joined by 10 other runners who formed the lead pack. Eight runners were in the lead pack at the five mile mark. Into the eighth mile, five runners were together well ahead of the field.

Turning onto the red bricks toward the finish in downtown Flint, Kichumbe Koech and Samuel Ndereba were neck-and-neck, but Kichumbe Koech sprinted ahead to the finish under the arches in downtown Flint for the victory.

Kichumbe Koech said, "At the eight mile mark, I wondered who would win. I thought he (Ndereba) was stronger than me, but I had a really strong kick. I was comfortable, but the pace was slow because it was humid."

Ndereba, 31, from Kenya, finished with a time of 48:07. Boaz Cheboiywo of Ypsilanti, Mich. finished third at 48:09.

Also running in her first Crim, Limika, 29, won with a time of 55:49. Limika said, "I am excited! This is my first time here and my first win. The course was really tough because of the humid weather. I am not used to running in the humid weather."

Limika took the lead at the seven mile mark with three other runners moving ahead with her. She left her fellow Kenyans and housemates behind, sprinting ahead the last 400 meters. Master Edith Masai, 41, came in second at 55:53 and suffered a rare road loss this year, and countrywoman Neriah Aasiba, 27, finished third (55:56).

Among the Masters runners, Paul Aufdemberge, 43, of Redford, Mich. finished first in 52:15, while Gideon Mutisya, 41, of Kenya finished second (52:49) and David Homann, 41, of Brighton, Mich. third at 56:17. Edith Masai's overall runner-up finish was the top women's Masters time (55:53). Russian Albina Gallyamova, 44, finished second at 59:14, and Monica Joyce, 50, of Ann Arbor, Mich. finished third in 1:02:58.

Cheboiywo, 30, of Ypsilanti was the top Michigan runner (48:09) finishing third overall. Nicholas Stanko, 27, of Ann Arbor finished second (51:14), while Paul Jellema, 24, of Rochester, was third (51:27).

Top American woman and 9th overall Mandi Zemba, 25, Hudsonville, was the top Michigan female runner for the second year in a row with her 57:14. Rebecca Walter, 24, of Beverly Hills, finished second at 58:21 and Kelly Stewart, 27, of Ann Arbor, placed third (58:26). Top Michigan finishers earned bonus money.

The Crim family of races, which also includes a ten mile competitive walk, a 8K run and walk, a 5K run and walk, a one mile run and walk, the Lois Craig Invitational for Special Olympics and the Teddy Bear Trot, had over 14,200 participants. Once again, over 3,000 volunteers came together to make this event a success.

32nd Crim Festival of Races 10 Mile
Flint, MI, Saturday, August 23, 2008

MEN
1) Stephen Kichumbe Koech (KEN), 48:04, $5000
2) Samuel Ndereba (KEN), 48:07, $2500
3) Boaz Cheboiywo (KEN / MI), 48:09, $2800
4) Edward Muge (KEN), 48:17, $1500
5) Daniel Kipkoech (KEN), 48:36, $1000
6) Hosea Rotich (KEN), 48:53, $800
7) Emmanuel Korir (KEN), 49:09, $600
8) Dagne Alemu (ETH), 49:05, $400
9) Reuben Chebii (KEN), 49:18, $250
10) Andrew Smith (CAN), 50:07, $150

Michigan Bonus
1) Cheboiywo, see above
2) Nicholas Stanko (MI), 51:14, $400
3) Paul Jellema (MI), 51:27, $250

MASTERS Men (40+)
1) Paul Aufdemberge, 43, USA / MI, 52:15, $1200
2) Gideon Mutisya, 41, KEN, 52:49, $900
3) David Homann, 41, USA / MI, 56:17, $500

WOMEN
1) Irene Limika (KEN), 55:49, $5000
2) Edith Masai, 41, KEN, 55:53, $3700
3) Neriah Aasiba (KEN), 55:56, $2000
4) Angelina Mutuka (KEN), 56:08, $1500
5) Jane Murage (KEN), 56:11, $1000
6) Hyvon Ngetich (KEN), 56:16, $800
7) Mamitu Daska (ETH), 56:20, $600
8) Jane Muia (KEN), 56:30, $400
9) Mandi Zemba (USA / MI), 57:14, $1050
10) Soon Duk Kang (KOR), 57:56, $150

Michigan Bonus
1) Zemba, see above
2) Rebecca Walter (MI), 58:21, $400
3) Kelly Stewart (MI), 58:26, $250

MASTERS Women (40+)
1) Masai, see above
2) Albina Gallyamova, 44, RUS, 59:14, $900
3) Monica Joyce, 50, USA / MI, 1:02:58, $500

Full results and more at: Crim.org

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232
Ryan@RunningUSA.org | www.RunningUSA.org