RIO DE JANEIRO — Kenya has long dominated distance running, but not until Sunday did it have a gold medal in the women’s Olympic marathon.
Jemima Sumgong pushed past Eunice Kirwa of Bahrain and Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia in the final mile, finishing in 2 hours 24 minutes 4 seconds.
Kirwa was nine seconds behind and won silver; Dibaba, 26 seconds behind Sumgong, took bronze. Shalane Flanagan of the United States finished sixth in 2:25:26. All three Americans finished in the top 10: Desiree Linden was seventh (2:26:08) and Amy Cragg was ninth (2:28:25).
The conditions were not kind: Sunny, humid and about 80 degrees.