ANPAbdi Nageeye after the men’s marathon at the Olympic Games
NOS Sport•zaterdag, 11:58
Wherever Abdi Nageeye starts in the marathon, something always happens. The battle for Olympic gold in Paris was no exception to that rule.
Three years after his silver medal in Tokyo, the 35-year-old athlete was smiling again at the finish in Paris. Like a farmer with a toothache, this time.
A collision with a Kenyan opponent while grabbing a water bottle at a refreshment post at kilometre point 20 cost him a good ranking in the French capital, according to him. He came for gold, but dropped out in fortieth position a kilometre before the finish.
“It’s always drama with Abdi.”
Nageeye dropped out of marathon before the end: ‘Always drama with me, bad luck’
Nageeye had anticipated many circumstances in the run-up to the 42.195 kilometres from the centre of Paris to Versailles and back. There was the hilly course, with no less than 436 metres of elevation. And there was the heat, which is why the start was scheduled for eight in the morning.
He had armed himself well for it in the run-up to the marathon. In Kenya he had spent the last few months improving his skills in running uphill and downhill. And to prevent overheating he appeared at the start with a headband containing cooling elements.
As a man in form, the Tokyo vice-champion seemed ready for another top performance in the battle for Olympic gold. Until he painfully bumped his hip with an opponent at a supply point halfway through the race. “I knew right away that something was wrong.”
ANPAbdi Nageeye after the men’s marathon at the Olympic Games
It happened to him after he had not started his third Olympic marathon very well. At the beginning of the race he was forced to look for the side to remove a stone from under his shoe. That was difficult. But nothing more than that. “There was no panic.”
Nageeye then ran the first part of the race around sixth place, completely according to plan. He would only strike in the second half of the gruelling race, as was determined in advance.
He didn’t get that far. Immediately after the collision while accepting a water bottle, Nageeye knew that his Olympic appearance would end in a big disappointment this time. “For a medal, you simply need a good body.”
‘Focus, focus, focus’
As he felt his aching hip, he talked himself into a mantra. “Focus, focus, focus, I just kept telling myself. I knew I couldn’t push myself.”
No matter how hard he tried, Nageeye couldn’t find his stride rhythm again. Rolling off his foot was simply too painful. “I went from 3.00 minutes per kilometer to 3.05. That’s a pace I normally maintain during endurance training.”
The parts of the course where the road surface sloped down were particularly difficult for him. “My leg was as stiff as a wooden plank. It was impossible to find relaxation.”
AFPAbdi Nageeye during the first kilometers
Nageeye knew after 35 kilometers that he would not reach the redeeming finish line. “Because I could not walk normally, my legs started to hurt more and more. Everything hurt. I had the choice between running my body to pieces and quitting.”
He chose the latter. At a recreational pace he jogged for another six kilometers, then in a beaten position he had no choice but to surrender prematurely.
“I really couldn’t do it to finish so far behind. I’ve been working day and night on this marathon for three months. And then it’s over like this. This is really crazy. But I’ll have to learn to live with it.”
