IRELAND’S KEVIN SEAWARD finished 58th and Paul Pollock was 71st after enduring brutal conditions in the men’s marathon at Tokyo 2020.

The race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge who clocked 2:08:38 despite intense heat with 28 degrees and 80% humidity in Sapporo. There was disappointment for Stephen Scullion who was one 30 to drop out during the event. The 32-year old withdrew before the 20km mark. 

Seaward’s second-half showing was superb as he picked up almost 30 places to finish in a time of 2:21:45.

“I learned a lot about myself there in terms of resilience and inner strength. I am a teacher, some days I wake up and think what am I doing at the Olympics with all these guys,” said Seward post-race to RTE.

“I learned a lot about myself. When I was going through there I was telling myself, ‘you have to be resilient. you tell the children this in school. It is really tough. It is easy to stop. Just don’t. Keep going, keep working hard.’ I learned I can dig deep when I need to.”

Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

A visibly shattered but relieved Pollock crossed the line in 2:27:48. It is his second Games having competed at Rio in 2016 as well. 

For the victor Kichope, the result means he retains his Olympic marathon title and reinforces his credentials as one of the great distance runners of all time. 

It is his fourth Olympic medal. In 2004, he won bronze in the 5000m. He took silver in the same race in Beijing before his first marathon gold came in 2016. 

Dutch runner Abdi Nageeye was second in a time of 2:09:58 while Belgium’s Bashir Abdi took bronze in 2:10:00.