2008 Olympic Games, Beijing. Guatemala’s Jose Amado García managed to obtain a very good 35th position out of 98 runners that participated in the marathon. Alfredo Arevalo obtained position 63. Both athletes did improve their performance from the previous Olympic Games in Athen, in time and positions.
The biggest concern about this race leading to the Olympics was the quality of the air. World record-holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia decided not to run because of the pollution.
José Amado García finished with a time of 2:20.15, obtaining position 35. Alfredo Arévalo finished with a time of 2:28.26 in position 63.
Samuel Wanjiru pulled away over the final few kilometers to become the first Kenyan to win an Olympic marathon. Kenyans had twice won men's marathon silver medals, most recently in 2000, but never a gold. The 21-year-old Wanjiru finished the 42.2-kilometre course through the streets of Beijing in an Olympic record of two hours six minutes 32 seconds. Wanjiru smashed the previous record of two hours and 9:21 minutes set by Carlos Lopes of Portugal in the 1984 Olympics.
Jaouad Gharib from Morocco also broke the previous Olympic record to take silver in two hours and 7.16 minutes.
Tsegay Kebede from Ethiopia crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 10 minutes to claim the bronze.
Ninety-eight runners lined up at Tiananmen Square for the start of the race, which meandered through the streets of Beijing, past the fabled Forbidden City and historic Temple of Heaven before looping back to the square and through the city's financial district toward the stadium.
