Britain’s Emile Keyes underlined his huge potential as he moved from eighth to third in the final stages of the London Marathon and qualified for the Paris Olympics.
It was a show of soul and substance, as the 26-year-old revealed afterwards, although his training was severely affected by the fact that his cousin was in a coma for more than a month after a car accident.
That day, Kenyan Alexander Mutiso Munyao unexpectedly won the men’s race with a time of 2 hours, 04 minutes and 1 seconds, while Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele Bekele was 14 seconds behind in second, and the British eye was drawn to Cairess, who raced past the four men in the elite group. mile.
It was the Briton’s second-fastest ever result behind Mo Farah, but Keires is more focused on booking his place in Paris after a difficult few weeks.
“My cousin Oliver Burton was recently in a serious car accident and he was in a coma for about a month,” he explained. “He’s 22 years old but he’s like a little brother to me. He just came out of the ICU a few days ago. It’s been so stressful and hit or miss at times, but the last few weeks have been amazing. .It’s tough.
“I’m really excited this morning,” he added. “I have not experienced anything like this before and I hope I never experience anything like this again.”
Keres was already more than a minute behind the leaders, but his strategy was always to press hard. While he wanted to go faster, he admitted the gusty winds made things difficult. “It was very windy, but I stuck to my race plan. I’m very proud of third place. I think I probably did just under two hours and six.”
Another Briton, Mohammed Mohammed, followed closely behind and also crossed the field with a time of 2 hours, 07 minutes and 5 seconds, finishing fourth and also qualifying for the Paris Olympics. This is the first time since 1988 that two British men have finished in the top four.
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Mohammed’s preparations in London were also not smooth as he trained during the fasting month of Ramadan. That means he wakes up at 4 a.m., eats before his first run of the day, and then goes for his second run, often after midnight. “I changed everything in training,” he said. “I never thought I would be in the Olympics, but now I am.”
For much of the race, Bekele, a three-time Olympic gold medalist who won 17 world titles in cross-country, track and road and eight weeks shy of his 42nd birthday, looked set to give People were shocked.
However, he had no answer when Munho sprinted off with just over a mile to play. “At 40 kilometers I felt some pressure from Bekele, but I had trained for this race, so I said: ‘Let me have confidence that I have enough energy to win the race,'” Winner said. “That’s why I play.”
