"There’s nothing I can do, I have to live with it'' - Lusapho April

21 August 2016 - 20:25 By DAVID ISAACSON
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Lusapho April almost ran his toenails off as he vainly tried to achieve his dream of an Olympic marathon medal in a rainy Rio on Sunday.

April was the best of the three South Africans in the 42km, finishing 24th in 2hr 15min 24sec, well behind Kenyan winner Eliud Kipchoge in 2:08:44.

Ethiopian Feyisa Lilesa was second in 2:09:54 and American Galen Rupp, fifth in the men’s 10000m eight days earlier, was third in 2:10:05.

Sibusiso Nzima was 97th in 2:25:33 and Lungile Gongqa did not finish. 

April ended the race with his toes blistered and enough pain to make him think the nails were lifting. 

“I was struggling with the grip from the shoes, because it’s wet,” he said afterwards. “Look at my toe nails. It’s not that the shoe is small, it’s just that it’s wet. It is sore.”

April had been in contention until the final 10km or so, but then he fell off the pace. 

“That’s where I lost contact. I was comfortable, but when I started pushing, trying to close the gap — I was 10/15 seconds behind which was still good with 12km to go — and then around 35km I just lost it. 

“I kept fighting because this is what I was training for the past four years,” added April, who ended 43rd at London 2012. 

“There’s nothing I can do, I have to live with it. Go back to the drawing board try to fix what we think went wrong and take it from there.” 

April said he was keen to keep going at least until the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. 

In the final event of the Games featuring South Africans, mountain-biker Alan Hatherly ended 26th in the cross country in 1hr 42min 03sec, 8min 35sec behind winner Switzerland’s Nino Schurter of Switzerland.

SA’s other rider, James Reid, was pulled out on the fourth lap of the six-lap race. 

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