Americans break through to Boston Marathon podium
Americans grabbed two of the top four women’s spots and six of the top 10 for men in the 121st Boston Marathon on Monday — the first time that’s happened since the race went professional in 1986.
Galen Rupp, an Olympic bronze medalist, finished second in his Boston debut, 21 seconds behind Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya.
“It’s so exciting to see Americans being competitive here,” Rupp said. “It’s a real exciting time. And it’s awesome to see American distance running on the upswing and being competitive in these races.”
Also in the top 10 were runners from California, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Utah.
“American distance running is looking good today,” said sixth-place finisher Abdi Abdirahman, a Somali immigrant and Tucson resident who is a four-time Olympian. “We have the podium for both men and women, so the future is great.”
Jordan Hasay runs 2:23.0 for 3rd place in her 1st marathon. It is the fastest debut by an American ever. It is the 4th fastest American marathon time. A post shared by Oregon Project (@oregonproject) on Apr 17, 2017 at 9:15am PDT
Twenty-five-year-old California native Jordan Hasay, making her first run at the 26.2-mile distance, was third and Desi Linden was fourth — the first time since 1991 that two US women have finished in the top four. (Edna Kiplagat of Kenya and Rose Chelimo of Bahrain went 1-2.)
“It keeps happening. We keep getting closer. We’re putting more numbers in there, and it’s just a matter of time,” said Linden, the 2011 runner-up by 2 seconds. “When Americans break the tape, it’s going to be a big deal here.”
Hasay (2:23:00) broke the record for an American woman’s marathon debut by nearly three minutes, racing with a heavy heart five months after the death of her mother.
“She always told me that I could be a great marathoner,” Hasay said.
No US woman has won since Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985. Meb Keflezighi ended a 31-year drought for American men when he prevailed in 2014, the year after bombings at the race’s finish line killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.
Keflezighi, 41, who plans to retire from racing after the New York City marathon in November, stopped after his 13th-place finish Monday to touch the hand of Bill Richard, whose 8-year-old son Martin was the youngest person to die in the bombing.
“In 2013, I was a spectator just like the three victims and when I saw the 8-year-old … the first thing in my mind was that could have been my daughter,” Keflezighi said.
With AP and Reuters