BIRMINGHAM, UK (July 30) —— Jessica Stenson broke away from her rivals in the latter part of the race en route to a dominant victory in the Commonwealth Games 2022 women’s marathon with a time of 2:27:31 in Birmingham on Saturday morning (30).
Stenson (formerly Trengove), who previously won bronze medals at back-to-back Games in Glasgow and the Gold Coast, became the first woman in the history of the Commonwealth Games to win three medals in the marathon.
This time, though, it was gold as her brilliant pace running late in the contest burnt off her rivals who weren’t able to keep up. Read more: Commonwealth Games 2022 marathon men’s results – Victor Kiplangat wins Uganda first gold medal
Margaret Wangari Muriuki of Kenya finished with the silver medal with a PB of 2:28:00 with the defending champion Helalia Johannes of Namibia who was targeting the Games record, settling for a bronze medal with 2:28:39.
Australia’s Eloise Wellings just missed being on the podium again after she fell short of winning a Commonwealth Games medal for the fifth time of asking when taking fourth in 2:30:51.
Her compatriot Sinead Diver was fifth in 2:31:06.
The race was closely contested in the early going as the runners enjoyed the overcast conditions with the pack of 12 runners being led by the Australian trio.
However, after 25km, the group was separated evenly, with the lead party that still featured Wellings, Stenson, and Johannes, cut down to five runners.
Diver, however, who led through the opening 5km, was among the athletes who fell well off the pace and struggled to stay in touch with the lead group.
Stenson led through 10km at 36:25 and 15km at 53:40. She was also pacing the lead group of three runners at 35km at 1:46:12 after going through the half marathon at 1:15:06.
As Stenson and Muriuki injected a decisive surge of pace at about 37km, Johannes found the tempo too hot and was dropped from the lead pack with about 2:10:00 on the clock.
In fact, the Australian went on to build a significant gap between herself and the Kenyan who also struggled to keep up with the tempo of Stenson, who went through 40km at 2:19:48 with a lead of 0:19 seconds.
Johannes at this point, was 0:52 seconds behind the leader –fighting to keep the bronze medal position.
PHOTO: Jessica Stenson Instagram and Alastair Grant
Commonwealth Games 2022 women’s marathon results
| Rank | Country | Name | Time | |
| 1 | CGA code AUS | Jessica STENSON | 2:27:31 | SB |
| 2 | CGA code KEN | Margaret Wangari MURIUKI | 2:28:00 | PB |
| 3 | CGA code NAM | Helalia JOHANNES | 2:28:39 | SB |
| 4 | CGA code AUS | Eloise WELLINGS | 2:30:51 | |
| 5 | CGA code AUS | Sinead DIVER | 2:31:06 | SB |
| 6 | CGA code TAN | Failuna MATANGA | 2:31:29 | SB |
| 7 | CGA code NAM | Alina ARMAS | 2:33:30 | SB |
| 8 | CGA code LES | Mokulubete MAKATISI | 2:36:05 | PB |
| 9 | CGA code WAL | Clara EVANS | 2:38:03 | SB |
| 10 | CGA code UGA | Linet Toroitich CHEBET | 2:38:32 | |
| 11 | CGA code ENG | Georgina SCHWIENING | 2:40:09 | |
| 12 | CGA code WAL | Natasha COCKRAM | 2:40:18 | SB |
| 13 | CGA code MRI | Katie MAUTHOOR | 2:46:43 | PB |
| 14 | CGA code IOM | Sarah WEBSTER | 2:51:53 | SB |
| 15 | CGA code TAN | Jackline SAKILU | 2:46:45 | |
| 16 | CGA code SOL | Sharon FIRISUA | 2:52:35 |
