Five-time Olympian Fionnuala McCormack finished 28th in the women's marathon at Paris 2024 as the Netherlands' Sifan Hassan edged past Ethiopian world record holder Tigst Assefa to clinch gold by just three seconds.
The 39-year-old McCormack's appearance on the start line marked a major milestone as the Wicklow native became the first woman to represent Ireland at five Olympics and she went onto finish in a season's best time of 2:30:12, inside the top 30.
In her debut at Beijing 2008 she competed in the 3000m steeplechase, before taking on the 5000 and 10,000m at London 2012 and then switching to the marathon for Rio 2016 and setting a PB on the way to 20th.
She also finished best of the Irish at Tokyo 2020 but this time in Paris, she was the sole representative in either of the marathon events.
For the first time at an Olympics, the women's race was switched to the Sunday with the men's moved to Saturday, with the route taking inspiration from the Women's March on Versailles which took place in 1789 during the French Revolution.
McCormack negotiated the first 15k from the start point at the Hotel de Ville in a time of 51:56 which had her 44th overall. Ten kilometres later, she had moved into the top 30 and remained there past the 30km mark.
At the 35k mark, McCormack continued to stay consistent, holding onto 26th place, 4:17 down on the six-person lead group headed by Sharon Lokedi of Kenya and including multiple Tokyo 2020 medalist Hassan of the Netherlands, who also won bronze in both the 5000 and 10,000m earlier at Paris 2024.
In a dramatic duel to conclude the race, Hassan pipped world record holder Assefa of Ethiopia by just three seconds in an Olympic record time of 2:22:55.
Hellen Obiri of Kenya took the bronze medal ahead of her compatriot Lokedi.
McCormack crossed the line 28th at Les Invalides, seven minutes and 17 seconds down on Hassan.
"It wasn't what I came here for," McCormack told RTÉ Sport's Darren Frehill, saying she didn't come to Paris just to be a participant in a fifth Games.
"It was not what I envisaged at all. I feel like I never gave up but it wasn't what I was hoping for really."
She added that her hopes had rested on achieving "minimum better than I'd ran before", which would have meant beating her 20th place from Rio.
Ireland's first female five-time Olympian Fionnuala McCormack reflected on how Irish women now have "a spread over all sports, all events" after finishing 28th in the marathon in a season's best time of 2:30:12
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 11, 2024
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"The course was great really, I think we should have more courses like that," McCormack continued.
"I hung on in there for as long as I could, and even back on the first big hill, I could feel like it was gaining back towards where I wanted to be.
"But I wasn't in the race which I was really hoping I would be this time. It's hard when you're in a race and you're just watching everything move ahead of you. But the marathon is a bit like that and you just have to dig in, hold on as best you can and hopefully have something at the end maybe."
Mayo native Sinead Diver, representing Australia, was forced to pull out early in the race with Athletics Australia confirming that it was as a result of "experiencing bilateral cramping in both quadriceps".
SINEAD DIVER UPDATE:
— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) August 11, 2024
Sinead Diver withdrew from the marathon after experiencing bilateral cramping in both quadriceps at Paris 2024.
She is devastated and being supported by team officials and medical staff.
Despite managing Plantar fasciitis at times this year, there was no…
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