Britain’s Emile Cairess underlined his enormous potential as he weaved through the London Marathon field in the final stages to move from eighth to third and book his place for the Paris Olympics.
It was performance of soul and substance and it came, as the 26-year-old revealed afterwards, despite his training being deeply affected after his cousin was left in a coma for over a month after a car crash.
On a day where Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso Munyao was a surprise winner of the men’s race in 2hr 04mins 01 sec, with the Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele second, 14 seconds back, British eyes were drawn to Cairess, who surged past four of the elite field with two miles remaining before finishing in 2:06:46.
It was the second fastest time ever by a Briton, only behind Mo Farah, but Cairess was more focused on booking his place in Paris after a difficult few weeks.
“My cousin Oliver Burton was in a bad car crash recently and he was in a coma for about a month,” he explained. “He’s 22 but he’s like a little brother to me. He just came out of the ICU a few days ago. It was so stressful, touch and go at some points, but the last couple of weeks have been amazing. It’s been tough.
“This morning I was really emotional,” he added. “I’ve not experienced anything like that before and I hope not to experience anything like it in the future.”
Cairess had crossed halfway more than a minute behind the leading pack, but it was always part of his strategy to close strongly. And while he wanted to go quicker, he admitted the gusty winds had made conditions difficult. “It was windy but I stuck to my race plan. I’m really proud of third place. I think I could have gone under two hours six.”
Just behind him another Briton, Mahamed Mahamed, also sped through the field to come fourth in 2:07:05 to also qualify for the Paris Games. It was the first time two British men had finished in the top four since 1988.
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Mahamed didn’t have the smoothest preparation for London either as he did his training while observing Ramadan. That meant him getting up at 4am to eat before his first run of the day – and then often doing his second run after midnight. “I changed everything in my training,” he said. “I never thought I’d go the Olympics but I am now.”
For a large part of the race it had looked like Bekele, a three-time Olympic gold medallist who has won 17 world titles over cross-country, track and road, was going to spring a big shock eight weeks before his 42nd birthday.
However, he had no answer to Munyao when he pushed clear with just over a mile to go. “At 40km I felt some pressure from Bekele but I had trained for this race, so I said: ‘Let me be confident and I had enough energy to win,’” the winner said. “That’s why I kicked.”