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Hellen Obiri went into the Paris Olympic Games with the main focus being to win a gold medal but was forced to round up the podium in an unexpected turn of events.
Two-time Boston Marathon champion Hellen Obiri has recounted her Paris Olympic Games encounter, explaining that it was one of the hardest marathons she has ever competed in.
Hellen Obiri went on to claim a bronze medal in the hotly contested race, but explained that it was a one-of-a-kind race that left her wondering if she would be ready for the New York City Marathon. The race was won by Sifan Hassan as Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa came in second.
Having competed in Boston and New York, some of the toughest courses in the world, Hellen Obiri says the course in Paris surpassed the two by a great margin. She explained that analysing the course online made it look easy but once she toed the line in the race, reality dawned on her.
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10:22 - 31.10.2024
'Let's go!'- Gabby Thomas to join Hellen Obiri, Sharon Lokedi & Co at New York Marathon
Triple Olympic champion Gabby Thomas will be at the New York City Marathon scheduled for Sunday, November 3, seeking to offer support to the participants in the event.
“My Paris race was brutal…I have never raced in a marathon like that one…when I was watching the video, I thought it was an easy one but during the actual race, I saw it was actually a brutal race. However, it was important to compete there because it gave me a picture of how to train my mind to be strong mentally and learn to train for such hard races,” Hellen Obiri said in an interview with Letsrun.com.
The two-time world 5000m champion says she took three weeks off to resume training, something that came to her as a shock.
Hellen Obiri was eyeing the elusive gold medal at the Olympics but says coming out with a bronze was a blessing since she could not force issues.
"I thought it wouldn’t take too long for me to get back to my feet but it took me like three weeks and I was back to the grind. I thought it would take me a longer time than other marathons. My recovery was amazing and beautiful. Having an Olympic medal is amazing for my career,” Hellen Obiri added.
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