Today is my day off but I still woke up early. This was because today was the big marathon day. Trio to Rio time!
Trip to Sambodromo
I had breakfast, put on my Trio to Rio shirt and was ready to find the metro station.
It was the second time I used the metro here in Rio and this time it was for free. All volunteers received a transport card when picking up their uniform. This allows us to travel for free with public transport during the Olympics.
It took me a bit to figure out where exactly I had to show the card. They had many different places. One machine for every possible transport card they had. 😀 So I went through almost all of them until I found the right one. 😀
The ride to Sambodromo took about 20 minutes and I met another volunteer there. He is a technician at sailing. He comes from USA and was also at the Sochi Olympics. It is so cool to see peoples reactions when I tell them that I volunteer at the beach volleyball arena. They are all so jealous. 😀 Well it really is amazing there 😀
Getting to the venue from the metro station took max 5 minutes and then past security. All in all 10 minutes and I was at the arena.
My seat was right next to the start and finish gate. Awesome, I thought at first, but then realized that I would have wanted to be on the other side. All the athletes that finished went past the other side and not my side.. so I did not manage to congratulate the triplets.
The marathon
The start was given at 9:30 am and I managed to see the sisters a bit before they all took their places for the start. They looked happy and cheerful.
The tribunes were filled with fans from Peru, Chile, Japan, Brazil, Portugal and Columbia. And then one for Estonia. 😀 I regret not bringing the flag.. that would have made me much more visible and also offered some sun protection. 😀
The weather was harsh on the runners. It was clear blue sky and really warm. Not really a preferred running weather. It was also really hot to sit at the tribunes, but I had my book and they had some entertainment, the time flew by.
When the women were on the 1/2 marathon mark, we got a samba performance from various samba groups that train at Sambodromo. It was colorful and dancy. Every Brazilian knew the lyrics to the songs and were also dancing on the tribunes.
The Estonians were also in the big screen. The commentator mentioned that Estonia is making Olympic history with triplets competing at the marathon. 🙂
The finish
It was an exciting finish with Kenya taking the first place, Bahrain second and Ethiopia on the third. Then there was another Ethiopian and then Belarus and USA.
The winning time was 2 hours 24 minutes 04 seconds.
The winners ran up and down the Sambodromo corridor with flags and celebrated while others were finishing.
The Danes came first with Jess Draskau-Petersson on the 40th place with 2 hours 36 minutes and 14 seconds and Anna Holm Baumeister 55th place with 2 hours 39 minutes and 49 seconds.
There were different kind of finishes. There were those that sat down and were tired. Second group were those that required medical attention and were carried out of the arena. The third group of athletes looked like they could do it all over again. 😀
Although, all runners did receive a cold water and Gatorade bottle and a wet towel. Those that needed more, got a water bottle poured on them by the medical team.
Our first triplet to finish was Lily Luik! She made it to the first hundred! 97th place with 2 hours 48 minutes and 29 seconds. Super!
Second was Leila Luik with 114th place and time: 2 hours 54 minutes and 38 seconds.
It took a bit but then came Liina running through the finish line. I actually found out on the media that she had quit half way. To me it seemed like all of them finished. 😀
They got a flag and were hugging each other and jumping around. 😀 Then they started to dance samba and the crowd started cheering and taking pictures.
The first big hug they also got from the chairman of the Estonian Olympic Committee – Urmas Sõõrumaa. After taking pictures and dancing samba to the spectators, there was a lot of journalists that were standing in line to interview them. The Estonians were very really really popular. 😀
When walking back to the metro station, I heard people talking about them. They were really excited and amazed. I guess the Luik sisters made a few people go home and Google Estonia for the first time. 😀
It was an amazing event full of emotions and action. Tomorrow back to beach volleyball. 🙂 4 more days to go!
One thing that I did notice was the difference between the two venues (marathon and beach volleyball). Marathon was very quiet and the hosts didn’t really manage to get the crowd going. Also the interviews didn’t seem natural. It is completely different at beach volleyball.
