Marathoner Mary Joy Tabal being escorted to the medical tent shortly after finishing the race. Photo by Ted S. Melendres
RIO DE JANEIRO—Mary Joy Tabal nearly wilted in the scorching heat two-thirds of the way and wound up in 124th spot Sunday in the women’s marathon at the Rio Olympics here.
Tabal admitted she would have stopped with still 15 kilometers to go in the 42.195 km race as the sun bore down fiercely on the scenic seaside course that ended at the traditional venue of Rio’s world-famous annual carnival.
Still she plodded on and finished with a time of three hours, two minutes and 27 seconds–a good 38 minutes behind gold medalist Jemima Jelagat Sumgong of Kenya.
The 27-year-old Tabal had originally targeted a time faster than her national record of 2:43.47.
But the abrupt change in temperatures from start to the halfway mark sapped Tabal’s strength and she battled thoughts of quitting at the 30 km mark.
“I have never quit a race in my whole career and I didn’t want to quit in this Olympics,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks minutes after crossing the finish line.
Tabal passed the halfway mark just a minute behind her target time of 1:21 but then slowed down as temperatures reached its peak of 30 degrees Celsius. The race was flagged off in the morning with the mercury measuring at 18 degrees.
Sumgong won with a time of 2:24.04 with Bahrain’s Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa bagging silver in 2:24.13. The bronze went to Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia who timed 2:24.30.