Paris Olympics: Emile Cairess fourth as Tamirat Tola wins men’s marathon

Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola dominated the men’s marathon in Paris to win in an Olympic record time as Team GB’s Emile Cairess finished fourth.

Tola stormed ahead to seal victory in two hours six minutes and 26 seconds, beating the previous record – set by Kenya’s Samuel Wanjiru in 2008 – by six seconds.

Belgium’s Bashir Abdi (2:06.47) finished second to upgrade his bronze from Tokyo in 2021, while Benson Kipruto of Kenya (2:07:00) was third.

Cairess had been second at the 30km mark, but dropped back to sixth before finishing strongly to overhaul two rivals and claim fourth in 2:07.29.

“It was a good race. I tried to pace myself, be sensible, keep myself cool and just try to finish well,” said Cairess.

“I just didn’t want to leave anything on the course, give 100% to the race and have no regrets.”

However, there was disappointment for two-time defending champion Eliud Kipchoge who was unable to finish the race after struggling towards the back of the field.

The 39-year-old Kenyan, who was attempting to become the first three-time Olympic marathon winner, pulled out with just over 10km remaining.

Cairess’ British team-mates Phil Sesemann and Mahamed Mahamed finished 46th and 57th respectively.