On the final full day of track and field action at the Paris Olympics, nine medal events go down.
Early in the morning, marathoners took center stage for the first time as Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola won gold in the men’s marathon, setting an Olympic record in the process: 2:26.26. The record tumbled in spite of a treacherously hilly course in Paris.
In the afternoon, 4x400m relay teams race for gold, finals in the women’s 1500m, men’s 800m and much more at Stade de France.
See below for full event recaps, highlights, athlete soundbites and more.
Men’s Marathon
Until the final week of July, Tamirat Tola wasn’t even supposed to be in Paris this summer.
And yet the 32-year-old found himself hurling his body through the idyllic streets of Paris, past the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, as he won the men’s marathon gold medal in Olympic record time.
Despite running on the most challenging course in Olympic marathon history, Tola’s time of 2 hours, 6.26 seconds beat the previous the record set by Kenya’s Samuel Wanjiru (2:06.32) by six seconds.
“I am happy today because I fulfilled my goal,” Tola said. “I prepared well. I trained hard so I could win.
In my life, this is my great achievement.
Most astonishingly of all, Tola only found out recently that he was bound for Paris. On July 26, it was announced that Tola, the 2023 New York Marathon winner, would step in as a replacement for Sisay Lemma on the Ethiopian Olympic marathon team —Lemma had been forced to withdraw due to injury.
Tola is a second-time Olympian — he took 10,000m bronze in Rio and now joins rare air as a medalist in two distance events. His still-growing résumé also includes a 2022 world title in the marathon, plus top-three finishes at the Tokyo and London Marathons.
Now, he can add some gold to the list.
On Friday, Tola broke out to a commanding lead by the 18-mile mark and only ballooned it from there. The trio of Deresa Geleta, Benson Kipruto and Bashir Abdi hounded him for a stretch — and Tola continually looked over his shoulder at them. But the Ethiopian didn’t need to. He only continued to separate himself as downtown Paris came fully into view.
By the 24-mile mark, Tola’s advantage stood at 24 seconds. At the vaunted 26.2 miles, it was over. Running in the shadow of the striking Esplanade des Invalides, Tola — whose Olympic reality only set in 15 days ago — became an Olympic champion.
The Ethiopian held both hands high to the sky. Then, he placed them over his forehead in a daze. He draped his nation’s green, red and yellow flag over his back as the life-changing moment set in. Tola’s victory breaks a 24-year Ethiopian drought in the event — he’s the first gold medalist since Gezahenge Abera at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Behind him, Abdi (2:06.27) took silver, the best Olympic marathon finish in Belgium’s history. Kenya’s Kipruto claimed bronze in 2:07.00.
The American training partner duo from Utah of Conner Mantz and Clayton Young fittingly finished back-to-back: Mantz eighth, Young ninth. Halfway through, Mantz was still in the top two, trailing Tola by just a second. U.S. teammate Leonard Korir finished 63rd in 2:18.35.
Tola aced a brutal marathon course dotted with hills and secured a record that now belongs to him. That same test even claimed two-time defending Olympic champion and marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya. Kipchoge came up gimpy as the incline began to set in — he was seen grabbing his left leg. Kipchoge slowed down and did not finish.
SEE MORE: On an all-time brutal course, Tamirat Tola breaks Olympic record for marathon gold
Men’s high jump: Final (1:00 p.m. ET)
Men’s 800m: Final (1:05p)
Women’s javelin: Final (1:30p)
Women’s 100m hurdles: Final (1:35p)
Men’s 5000m: Final (1:50p)
Women’s 1500m: Final (2:15p)
Men’s 4x400m relay: Final (3:00p)
Women’s 4x400m relay: Final (3:14p)
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