Tokyo 2020 August 7th Preview

POSTED:

Men’s Marathon - 11pm Irish Time

Three of the top five fastest ever Irish marathoners are set to take on the Marathon challenge at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Stephen Scullion (Clonliffe Harriers AC) is likely to lead the Irish challenge will be looking to channel the energy that saw him claim the stunning person best of 2:09:49 in Oct 2020 into this evening’s race.

Scullion initially achieved the qualification standard when he finished fifth in the Houston Marathon, before sealing his position when he knocked two minutes off his PB with the 2:09:49 performance at last year’s London Marathon, just 34 seconds shy of Olympic Silver Medallist John Treacy’s 2:09.15 set in Boston in 1988.

Scullion will be joined on the start line by Paul Pollock who ranks fourth on the Irish all-time list after his Northern Ireland record at the Valencia Marathon in 2019, his last race over the distance.

It knocked over five minutes off his PB and also qualified him for Tokyo where he’ll be looking to better his 32nd place finish from Rio in 2016.

Kevin Seaward is the final of the marathon trio in action and will be hoping to challenge his 2:10:09 PB which he achieved in Seville back in February 2020 which was the second fastest marathon by an Irishman at a time.

The St Malachy’s AC athlete was 64th in 2:20 on his Olympic debut in Rio, and these tough conditions are unlikely to halt Seaward’s bid to better that finish.

Live results: Click HERE

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