On August 12, 2012, the final day of the Summer Olympics in London, the men's marathon took place. Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich won the second gold medal for his country (since John Akii Bua 40 years before won the first gold medal in the Olympics for the country in the men's 400 M hurdle), leaving behind two Kenyan rivals around 36.8 K by one of the most dramatic accelerations Olympic marathons have ever seen.
The race grabbed my attention in two ways. The first is the way it unfolded. The second is how Kiprotich won the race. Let's look at them one by one.
<How the Race Unfolded>
The tone of the first half was set by Wilson Kipsang from Kenya. He pulled away from the rest and at some point and kept his lead for a while. A small following group was formed with his fellow country man Abel Kirui, Dos Santos from Brasil, some Ethiopians, and a few others, one of whom was Japan's Arata Fujiwara.
But slowly one runner after another dropped off the pack, leaving only two, Abel Kirui and Stephen Kiprotich. They succeed in catching up to the leader around 26.5 K, and from then on the race was controlled by the group of three.
Around 35 K a small gap opens up between the two Kenyans and the Ugandan. And the gap seems to become wider, and for a moment everyone thought Stephen Kiprotich was done.
But to everyone's surprise he hangs on, and the gap remains more or less the same for another few kilometers.
Then, the decisive moment comes. At 36.8 K Stephen Kiprotich suddenly passes the two Kenyans from around the outside at one corner, and motors away. Taken by surprise, neither Wilson Kipsang nor Abel Kirui could attack back. Abel Kirui does his best to catch up, but Wilson Kipsang simply lags further and further behind.
A minute ago he looked like a broken man, but Stephen Kiprotich is full of running, his legs nice and fresh and cadence significantly increased. But anything could happen in the last 5 K of the ultimate test of endurance. Can he maintain the pace? Or at some point, will one of the Kenyans catch up to him and make a prey of the running gazelle?
Well, as the last phase unfolds, it becomes clear that it is the Stephen Kiprotich that is the predator and that the other Kenyans are gazelles eaten by it.
The Ugandan keeps the lead and crosses the finish line by one of the best times for an Olympic marathon, holding up the national flag in triumph, bringing home the country's second gold medal since John Akii Bua in the Munich Olympics.
<How He Won the Race>
To make a long story short, he wasn't falling behind because of a patch at 35. He strategically dropped to save energy for the final attach. He was also sizing up the Kenyans from behind. How much do they still have in their tank? Which one of them could imposes greater threat to me when I attach? In other words, he is a lion that sits on the savanna, apparently with no interest in hunting for a grey. Gazelles around him are relaxed, enjoying their morning gulps of water. But the truth of the matter is the lion is carefully judging who makes the easiest target. And when the moment of the truth comes, he makes the decisive move, and the jog is done!
All in all, the 2012 Olympics' men's marathon is one of the most tactical races that I have ever seen. It also shows the overwhelming dominance of the East African marathoners in the early 2010s. I recommend you to watch the
race not just because the race is interesting for the reasons I mentioned above, but the You Tube video made available by the courtesy of the Olympic channel offers some of the most spectacular views of London's monumental architecture. Check it out!
No comments:
Post a Comment