Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya broke away late in the race to sprint to the gold medal in the women’s marathon.
Jepchirchir was among a large pack of runners that held together on Saturday morning until the late going. She went on to defeat another Kenya runner, Brigid Kosgei, the world-record holder, who earned the silver medal, and Molly Seidel of the United States, who claimed the bronze.
Jepchirchir won in 2 hours 27 minutes 20 seconds. She was 16 seconds ahead of Kosgei and 26 seconds ahead of Seidel.
Officials moved the race in 2019 to Sapporo, 500 miles north of Tokyo, in a futile attempt to escape the sapping heat and humidity that have smothered the Summer Games.