2016 is an olympic year so in August the most prestigious and competitive Marathon takes place yet again. In this post I’ll set the spotlight on the best Marathon runners this year, their latest results and their chance to win the Olympic Marathon in Rio de Janeiro.

Women’s Marathon

The women’s marathon race will take place on Sunday August 14th.

1. Helah Kiprop
   Kiprop is leading the women’s field of Kenyan marathoners this year. At the 2016 Tokyo Marathon she defended her title from 2015 setting a new personal best with a time of 2:21:27 which is also the third fastest time this year. The solid imrpovement of her marathon times the last couple of years make her one of the top athletes in the women’s competition this year in Rio.
2. Tirfi Tsegaye
   Tsegaye from Ethiopia is an experienced marathoner running the long distance for over eight years now. She was able to increase her performance over the years peaking at this years Dubai Marathon which she won with a time of 2:19:41. After a third place in the 2015 London Marathon and a dissappointing 8th place at the championships in Beijing she was able to find her form this year with running the fastest time of the year so far.
3. Mare Dibaba
   Dibaba will lead the Ethopian marathon athletes at this years Olympic Games. She had an awesome 2015 winning the world championship in Beijing and receiving the AIMS marathoner of the year award. She also won the Xiamen marathon equalizing her personal best of 2:19:52 and came in a close second at the Boston Marahon. At the 2016 London Marathon she finished in 6th place a little over a minute behind the winner. It is yet uncertain if she can get in her last years shape until the olympic marathon.

Men’s Marathon

The men’s competition is scheduled for Sunday August 21st.

1. Ghirmay Ghebreslassie
   This young gun from Eritrea will just be 20 years of age in August but has already won the World Championship Marathon last year in Beijing becoming the youngest marathon world champion and the first athlete from Eritrea to win a street race. He set a new personal best at the London Marathon in April where he took a 4th place with almost five minutes behind the winner. Despite his good shape he lacks of experience which can be an issue.
2. Eliud Kipchoge
   The 31-year old athlete is on fire this year and the top shot of the kenyan olympic marathon team. He is this years London Marathon winner running the second best time ever just a couple of seconds slower than the world record. His times have been steady over the years getting a bit faster every year. Kipchoge is in the best runner’s age and has a lot of experience making him one of the top athletes in this years competition.
3. Tesfaye Abera
   This runner from Ethiopia is one of the fastest marathoners this year winning both the Dubai Marathon and the smaller Marathon in Hamburg. His time in Dubai was just around half a minute behind the world record and he achieved this in his second season of running marathons. Despite his achievements this year he is a dark horse and nobody knows if he can confirm his performances at the Olympic Games on the biggest stage there is.

Who else?

Of course the three athletes above are not the only ones able to win the gold medal at this years Olympic Games. Runners like Stanley Biwott in the men’s race or Kayoko Fukushi in the women’s competition and many others can make the races an exciting and close competition. After all it seems pretty safe to say that African athletes will win the races although we could see some surprises on the podium.

Happy running
mikula