RIO DE JANEIRO — Since Joan Benoit Samuelsen won the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, only four other U.S. women had cracked the top 10 before Sunday’s race, when all three U.S. women did it.
Shalane Flanagan, who was 10th in London four years ago, finished sixth in two hours, 25 minutes, 26 seconds, which was 1:22 behind gold medalist Jemima Jelagat Sumkong of Kenya (2:24:04). Desiree Linden was seventh and Amy Cragg was ninth.
Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa, a native of Kenya running for Bahrain, claimed the silver medal — nine seconds behind Sumkong — and Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia took bronze. Dibaba is the reigning world champion. Sumkong became the first Kenyan woman to win the Olympic marathon.
On a brutally hot morning Flanagan went with the lead pack of seven runners when they surged at 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) and stayed with them until they made another move at 35 kilometers when she fell off the pace.
“My coach said, ‘At 30K, there’s going to be a big push to the finish,'” Flanagan said. “I tried to just hang as tight as I could, but I also tried to play it smart knowing that they may blow each other up and I may be able to pick off some of the carnage. I just tried to keep my head up and stay positive the entire time. There were a few times when I started to feel a little sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty uncomfortable toward the end.
“I’m happy I hung in as long as I could, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”
The last seven kilometers of the course had a lot of turns, which allowed the leaders to hide from their pursuers.
“You lose eyesight of where they are, and you think you’re still within contact with them,” Flanagan said. “Before you know it, the gap has opened up. You never give up in a setting like this. You push for every spot and every second that you can get. I feel like I did that, the best that I could.”
Flanagan was born in Boulder, grew up in Massachusetts and lives now in Portland, Ore. She succeeded 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor as America’s best female distance runner in recent years, taking a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was second in the 2014 Bolder Boulder.
The three Americans weren’t able to challenge for medals, but they were proud of making history by finishing in the top 10 together.
“That’s unbelievable,” Flanagan said. “That’s got to be the best we’ve ever done. I told Desi at the finish line, ‘I’m so proud of us.’ We came here ready to run hard, and I felt like we did.”
Linden had another reason to be proud: She was forced to drop out of the 2012 Olympic marathon after two miles with a femoral stress fracture. She knew going into that race she might be unable to finish but decided to try. On Sunday, she ran with the leaders for half the race but fell 30 seconds behind them over the next five kilometers.
“I thought I ran really well,” said Linden, who lives in Rochester Hills, Mich. “I wanted to run my own race, and I felt like at times it was kind of happening around me, the surges and the moves by the Kenyans. I wanted to have another gear over that last 10-12K. I think I might have been a little too aggressive that last 10K. I got excited. I could see myself closing in, and I just got stuck at one pace coming back the rest of the way. I was completely gapped. I couldn’t make any moves. I put everything out there.
“I’m not upset at all. I wish I were a little bit better. I wish I could have been closer, but we went all in. That’s as good as I am, and that’s the whole point. You come out here to find out.”
At age 35, this could well be Flanagan’s final Olympics. She said she has an interest in coaching those who could succeed her at the top rank of American runners.
“You never know, but I really enjoy helping other people as much as my own training at this point,” Flanagan said. “I would love to be helping someone get on a podium the next time around, instead of it being me.”
