Lawrence Cherono may have been run off the podium in the final few metres of the men’s Olympic marathon, but there was a silver lining for the Kenyan.
Cherono’s fourth place earned him four precious points in Series XIII of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and edged him into first place on the leaderboard.
Cherono went into the weekend one point behind Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata, but with the London 2020 champion not lasting the distance in Sapporo, Cherono’s performance moved him three points clear of his rival.
In the coming weeks we will learn the rest of the lineups for the forthcoming season of Majors races and where the chances will come for the world’s best marathon runners to fight their way to the series title.
Eliud Kipchoge’s historic victory in Japan made him a two-time Olympic champion and put him back among the leaders of the Series following his disappointing finish in London last October.
Bashir Abdi, who went past Cherono in the home straight to snatch the bronze medal, now sits in joint second position on the ladder alongside Kitata.
On the women’s side, Brigid Kosgei’s victories in Chicago 2019 and London 2020 mean she has already hit the maximum 50 points available for this series despite her silver medal behind the impressive Peres Jepchirchir.
Molly Seidel’s battling bronze medal performance on the streets of Sapporo will make her a hot ticket for one of her home soil races in the fall where she could yet add to the nine points she claimed at the weekend.
View the current leaderboards here.
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