Rio 2016 Olympics: OP Jaisha 89th women’s marathon, Kavita Raut 120th

On Day 9, Sunday, India will once again have two athletes in action with OP Jaisha and Kavita Raut hitting the road in the women’s marathon event. Catch all the timings and rankings here.

As it happened, Rio 2016 Olympics:

2038 hrs IST: Jemima Sumgong of Kenya has won the women’s marathon with time of 2:24:04

2037 hrs IST: OP Jaisha 89th women’s marathon, Kavita Raut 120th

2026 hrs IST: OP Jaisha drops to 81st at the 35km mark and Kavita Raut is 119th

1958 hrs IST: OP Jaisha climbs a place to 67th at the 30km mark with time of 1:51:47. Kavita is 122nd with time of 2:02:24 at 30km mark

1939 hrs IST: OP Jaisha drops to 68th at 25km mark. Registers a time of 1:31:50. Kavita stays 125th at same stage. Posts a time of 1:40:07

1928 hrs IST: Kavita reaches halfway stage with time of 1:22:53. She stands 125th

1918 hrs IST: At the halfway stage, OP Jaisha is 59th with time of 1:16:29. Kavita is 123rd at the 20km mark

1857 hrs IST: OP Jaisha drops to 57th at 15km mark with time of 53:58. Kavita drops to 118th with time of 57:35. Rose Chelimo of Bahrain in the lead at this stage with time of 51:43

1840 hrs IST: OP Jaisha has climbed three places at the 10km mark to stand 47th. Timing of 35:17. Meanwhile Kavita has dropped seven placed to go 104th. Timing of 37:30

1820 hrs IST: At the 5km mark, OP Jaisha is 50th and Kavita is 97th

1810 hrs IST: The women’s marathon is underway. OP Jaisha with bib 835 and Kavita Raut with 836

1750 hrs IST: The scene at the start

Women’s marathon at #Rio2106 pic.twitter.com/nr25YhRDFl

— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) August 14, 2016

BUILD UP

# Chasing Olympic medal, Lalita Babar enters final 32 years after PT Usha

Lalita Babar finished the 3000 m steeplechase in 9 mins 19.76 secs. (AP Photo)

Lalita Babar has been going to sleep at 6.30 am India time everyday, in Ooty, this past one month. She has also been simulating steeplechase races at 6.30 pm — telling her mind it’s a 10 am start at Brazil’s Estadio Olimpico Joao Havelange stadium. On Saturday, at 10 am — just like her inner clock had got used to — Babar ran a meticulously planned race that she had rehearsed a million times in her head. Clocking 9 minutes 19.76 seconds in the 3000 m steeplechase, the 26-year-old from Satara became the first Indian woman athlete in 32 years to make it to a track final at the Olympics.

That’s the first runner after the legendary P T Usha at Los Angeles in 1984.

Babar is tall, with a loping stride. The only reason India hasn’t woken up to her all these months is because she has kept a low profile while leaping over high hurdles and splashing in water — all of it to the last point of accuracy, as planned by Belarusian coach Dr Nikolai Snesarev.

Born to modest farmers in rural Maharashtra, Babar has seen a steady rise. Her latest national record — she improved by 7 seconds — came exactly a year after she raised the bar in a fifth national mark at the World Championships last August.

Babar had already marked herself as world-class when she finished 8th at the World Championships in Beijing in 2015. But in going under 9 minutes 20 seconds, she has announced her intent to challenge the best in the world.

Excellence drives this talented Indian runner, and she has consistently maintained that the biggest joy is in running alongside world-class talent.

On Friday, she finished fourth in her heats — after Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya (9:17.55), Emma Coburn of USA (9:18.12) and Habiba Ghribi of Tunisia (9:18.71), all of who ended up as automatic qualifiers. Babar finished as the next-6 top performers, even as the final became an 18-woman race, owing to all the tumbles that took place at Rio.

In what was a messy race, where people stumbled, fell, and stepped on each other in the water jump, Babar kept her poise, even after slipping once.

“I’m okay and I will race on Independence Day, that was the plan. But I know the job is not done. It’s just one part of the task completed and now the main task remains,” said the athlete.

Babar has logged thousands of kilometres in running, even after her fifth national record at Beijing last year, and has not remained content with just being India’s best. She wasn’t interested in the record today either, and instead expressed her disappointment that she could not finish in the top three.

Judging by the results today, it will be a world record final, where Ruth Jebet is expected to clock below 9 minutes. Babar had competed with Jebet at the Incheon Asiad, where she won the bronze.

“If Ruth can run faster then why can’t we,” Babar always maintained.

Though Babar was in absolute command of her speed on Saturday, she can expect a final where the pace is fast from the beginning. The long-striding Babar, quietly confident, is ready.