President William Ruto has congratulated Benson Kipruto for his sterling performance in men’s marathon at the Paris Olympic Games in France.
The President said Kenya salutes Kipruto for bringing the bronze medal home.
“Bravo Benson Kipruto for your outstanding performance in the men's marathon, successfully securing our position in the long-distance race. We salute you for bringing the bronze medal home,” he said on X.
Kipruto clocked 2:07:00 in a race won by Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola, while Belgium’s Bashir Abdi finished second.
Tola cut the tape in an Olympic record time of 2:06.26.
Bashir, who was third in Tokyo three years ago, improved to a silver medal position, clocking a season-best time of 2:06.47.
Former champion Eliud Kipchoge could not sustain the tempo and did not finish the race.
Things started looking bad for Kipchoge, 39, as soon as the leading pack hit the 15 kilometre mark.
Kipchoge began drifting away and backwards and at the 19 kilometre mark, he had dropped from eighth to 16th position.
The race, touted as the toughest in history, proved as much to other elite runners including Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele who finished in the 39th position.
Kipchoge's compatriot, Alexander Munyao, who went into the race with a season's best time of 2:04:01 set in London this year finished in the 21st position.
Kipruto, ranked first in the World, had a season's best time of 2:02:16 set in Tokyo, Japan this year.
Kipchoge, ranked 13th in the world, had a season's best time of 2:06:50 also set at the Tokyo marathon in March this year.
