Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Irish Day 8 Summary

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Tokyo 2020 - Athletics Day 8 Summary

Friday August 6th

Tokyo 2020


Startlists & Reports

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Irish Day 1 Summary

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Irish Day 2 Summary

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Irish Day 3 Summary

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Irish Day 4 Summary

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Irish Day 5 Summary


Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Irish Day 7 Summary

Where to Watch

Coverage on RTE 2 and BBC 1 begins at Midnight most nights, while Eurosport 1 & 2 (Sky Channels 410 and 411) have round-the-clock coverage, including replays

Note: Tokyo is 8 hours ahead of Ireland

Womens Marathon

Aoife Cooke, Eagle AC & Fionnuala McCormack

25th Place for Fionnuala McCormack

Fionnuala McCormack ran a steady race throughout, finishing in 25th place, in 2:34:09 in gruelling conditions of high temperatures and humidity which took it's toll on the field with 14 athletes not finishing. Aoife Cooke, Eagle AC was one of those, dropping out before the half-way mark. Sinead Diver, from Belmullet, Co. Mayo, but now resident in Australia, and running for that country, was 'neck and neck' with Fionnuala for much of the first half, but gradually drew away, to finish 10th, in 2:31:14

Splits

Athletics Ireland Report

Tokyo 2020 August 6th Report

Fionnuala McCormack marked her fourth Olympic Games with a 25th place finish in the women's Marathon

Conditions in Sapporo were hot and humid from the get go, even with the rescheduled start which saw athletes taking to the gun an hour earlier. The heat began to take it's toll on the field from 20km and saw 10 athletes including Aoife Cooke withdraw shortly after the half way point

Cooke has enjoyed a tremendous 24 months which included taking the Dublin Marathon title in 2019 and will certainly be back in an Irish marathon vest in the future

The race in Sapporo was won a Kenyan one-two, with Peres Jepchirchir upsetting the form guide to get the better of pre-race favourite Brigid Kosgei, with USA's Molly Seidel taking bronze

McCormack backed up a top-20 finish in Rio with a controlled race plan, crossing the line in a time of 2:34:09 for 25th place

The pace early doors was somewhat reserved for an elite field, with Jepchirchir crossing the 10km marker in a time of 36:16

Indeed just five seconds separated the top 50 runners, with McCormack positioning herself well in the early stages, just a second behind the leader

Cooke was among a group that had become a little detached at 10km, 28 seconds down in 70th position before withdrawing at the half way stage

Kosgei, Chemtai Salpeter and Ruth Chepngetich were among the heavy hitters in a group of a dozen at the front, with McCormack 50 seconds down in 26th while keeping within touching distance

The 36-year-old settled into her rhythm, but those at the front upped the pace with 15km to go

McCormack used all of her experience to maintain the 25th place over the final 10k and looked strong as she powered over the line to create another piece of history to add to her illustrious career

In a gripping race for the medals, Salpeter pulled up and the Kenyan pair made a decisive break, with Seidel doing her best to consolidate third

Jepchirchir then upset the form book to accelerate away from Kosgei with 2km remaining to power home strongly for gold in a winning time of 2:27:20, 16 seconds ahead of Kosgei with the American Seidel holding on for third

Full Olympic Athletics Schedule

Tokyo Olympics 2020 - Athletics Starts Friday

Schedule - Saturday August 7th

Start Time	Location	Event
Session 21  22:00 (-1) - 2:15
22:00 (-1)	Sapporo Odori Park	Women's Marathon Final
Session 19  10:50 - 14:20
11:35	Olympic Stadium - High Jump A	Women's High Jump Final
11:45	Olympic Stadium - Track	Women's 10,000m Final
12:00	Olympic Stadium - Long Throws	Men's Javelin Throw Final
12:40	Olympic Stadium - Track	Men's 1500m Final
13:30	Olympic Stadium - Track	Women's 4 x 400m Relay Final
13:50	Olympic Stadium - Track	Men's 4 x 400m Relay Final

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