Rupp books his Tokyo ticket

New York, March 1

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Galen Rupp stormed to victory at the United States marathon trials to book his fourth consecutive ticket to the Olympic Games.

The 33-year-old distance runner, the protege of banned coach Alberto Salazar, powered home in 2hr 9min and 20sec in blustery conditions in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jacob Riley claimed second place 2:10:02, while the 43-year-old Abdi Abdirahman took third to qualify for Tokyo.

The Somalia-born Abdirahman will be competing in his fifth Olympics after first competing in the 10,000m at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Rupp, a marathon bronze medallist at the 2016 Olympics and a silver medallist in the 10,000m at the 2012 Games in London, has been troubled by Achilles and foot injuries in recent seasons. He underwent surgery in 2018 and last year suffered a blow when long-time coach Salazar was given a 4-year ban by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for doping offenses.

In the women’s race, the Kenya-born Aliphine Tuliamuk won in 2:27:23 ahead of Molly Seidel, who was competing in a marathon for the first time.

Sally Kipyego, who won a silver medal for Kenya in the 10,000m at the 2012 Olympics, claimed the third spot. Tuliamuk, Seidel and Kipyego’s 1-2-3 finish upset the form book, with 2018 Boston Marathon winner Des Linden and US 10,000m record holder Molly Huddle and Jordan Hasay all missing out.

Legese wins in Tokyo

Tokyo: Ethiopian Birhanu Legese won the Tokyo Marathon for the second year in a row today, racing to victory in two hours, four minutes and 15 seconds along often empty streets in the Japanese capital. Locals were strongly discouraged from lining the route because of the coronavirus outbreak, and the race was restricted to a few hundred elite athletes, without the usual retinue of more than 30,000 amateur runners to limit the risk. — Agencies