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Minggu, 12 Agustus 2012

Stephen Kiprotich becomes Uganda's second ever Olympic gold medallist with historic men's marathon victory

Kiprotich followed in the footsteps of his compatriot John Akii-Bua, who was 400 metres hurdles champion 40 years ago, and crossed the line in 2hr 08min 01sec.

Kirui took the silver, 26 seconds adrift, and long-time leader Kipsang Kiprotich finished with the bronze.

Kipsang Kiprotich, this year's London Marathon winner, made an early move to try to break up the lead group, building a 21sec lead at one point.

It was a high-risk strategy in such warm conditions, though, and he paid for it as the race went on as he started to look less and less comfortable.

He missed a drinks stop and by the 25km mark his advantage was down to seven seconds.

Kenyan world champion Kirui and Kiprotich soon joined the leader to make it a three-way battle for the gold medal.

Kiprotich looked to be starting to struggle, holding the back of his leg, but he suddenly produced a big surge, leapt to the front and pulled away.

In front of packed crowds all along the looped central London course, the Ugandan, who moved to Kenya as a teenager to train, started smiling and pointing his finger into the air as he closed in on victory before draping himself in the Ugandan flag as he crossed the line.

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