Peres Jepchirchir denies Tigst Assefa to claim gold
Julia Paternain learns of medal after crossing the line
Julia Paternain wasn’t sure where she had finished after a punishingly hot women’s marathon at these World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. So, as she crossed the line, she asked an official.
The answer had Paternain, the world’s 288th-ranked marathon runner, staring back at him in disbelief. She had won a bronze medal, Uruguay’s first ever at a world athletics championships.
“Usually in races, you have people yelling at you: ‘You’re this position, you’re this position,’” explained Paternain, who was raised in Britain and won two English schools championships. “But everything was in Japanese, so I had no idea where I was.”
