Meb Keflezighi eighth after stopping, throwing up, crying at Boston Marathon

Meb Keflezighi
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Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa captured his second Boston Marathon, while Kenyan Caroline Rotich won her first major marathon on Monday.

The top U.S. finishers were Olympians Desi Linden (fourth) and Shalane Flanagan (ninth) in the women’s race. In the men’s, Dathan Ritzenhein was seventh, and the 2014 champion Meb Keflezighi was eighth, holding and raising the hand of near the finish.

“Last year was an epic race, epic moment for Boston, for the United States and for the world,” Keflezighi, who turns 40 on May 5, said on Universal Sports. “I was hoping to defend it, but as soon as I got to … mile 21, 22, just tough going. I took a drink. It didn’t go down. They made a big move. The separation happened.”

Keflezighi said he stopped and threw up five times with the liquid not sitting well. He also said he cried on the final stretch on Boylston Street, site of his emotional triumph last year.

“I was hurting pretty bad,” he said in an interview on Boston’s CBS station. “I was very emotional.”

Keflezighi said he next plans to go on a tour for his book, “Meb For Mortals.” He has said he wants to run a fall marathon, perhaps New York City on Nov. 1, before the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on Feb. 13 in Los Angeles.

Full results can be found here.

Desisa, who won the 2013 Boston Marathon before twin bombings rocked the world’s oldest annual 26.2-mile race later that day, pulled away from countryman Yemane Tsegay in the final two miles Monday. Desisa’s time was 2:09:17, 31 seconds faster than Tsegay in damp, windy conditions. In 2013, Desisa gave his winner’s medal back to the city.

Desisa, 25, has been first or second in every major race he’s finished in the last two years. He did not finish the 2014 Boston Marathon won by Keflezighi, hampered by an ankle injury picked up in training.

“Boston is my second home,” Desisa said on Universal Sports.

Ritzenhein and Keflezighi took turns at the front of the men’s lead group in the latter half of the race but were dropped as the pace quickened. They finished more than two minutes back.

Rotich, 30, battled Ethiopians Mare Dibaba and Buzunesh Deba in the final two miles, after dropping Linden. She outsprinted Dibaba by four seconds on the Boylston Street finish. Her time was 2:24:55.

Rotich had never before finished better than fourth in a major marathon.

“I have been waiting for this and training and training,” Rotich said on Universal Sports. “When we came through this last stretch, corner, I feel like, yeah I want to do this, and I could let it go.”

U.S. Olympians Linden, Flanagan and Amy Cragg were part of a 12-woman lead group at the half marathon mark, but all three were shed as the group thinned.

“I could just tell the pounding, the typical Boston course, my legs felt it,” Flanagan, who finished seventh in 2014 and fourth in 2013, said on Universal Sports. “I tried to talk them [my legs] out of slowing down, but they didn’t want to listen.”

No U.S. woman has won Boston since Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985.

Tatyana McFadden, an 11-time Paralympic medalist, won her third straight women’s wheelchair race in Boston in 1:52:54.

Swiss Paralympic marathon silver medalist Marcel Hug took the men’s wheelchair in 1:29:53.

The next World Marathon Major is the London Marathon on Sunday, featuring the last two men’s world-record holders, from Kenya, and world-record holder Paula Radcliffe in her competitive 26.2-mile farewell.

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2023 French Open women’s singles draw, scores

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At the French Open, Iga Swiatek of Poland eyes a third title at Roland Garros and a fourth Grand Slam singles crown overall.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Swiatek, the No. 1 seed from Poland, can join Serena Williams and Justine Henin as the lone women to win three or more French Opens since 2000.

Having turned 22 on Wednesday, she can become the youngest woman to win three French Opens since Monica Seles in 1992 and the youngest woman to win four Slams overall since Williams in 2002.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Men’s Draw

But Swiatek is not as dominant as in 2022, when she went 16-0 in the spring clay season during an overall 37-match win streak.

She retired from her last pre-French Open match with a right thigh injury and said it wasn’t serious. Before that, she lost the final of another clay-court tournament to Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed, is her top remaining challenger in Paris.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula, the highest-seeded American man or woman, was eliminated in the third round. No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who has three wins over Swiatek this year, withdrew before her third-round match due to illness.

No. 6 Coco Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek last year, is the best hope to become the first American to win a Grand Slam singles title since Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought is the longest for U.S. women since Seles won the 1996 Australian Open.

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2023 French Open Women’s Singles Draw

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2023 French Open men’s singles draw, scores

French Open Men's Draw
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The French Open men’s singles draw is missing injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, leaving the Coupe des Mousquetaires ripe for the taking.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Novak Djokovic is not only bidding for a third crown at Roland Garros, but also to lift a 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy to break his tie with Nadal for the most in men’s history.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Women’s Draw

But the No. 1 seed is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s U.S. Open to become, at 19, the youngest man to win a major since Nadal’s first French Open title in 2005.

Now Alcaraz looks to become the second-youngest man to win at Roland Garros since 1989, after Nadal of course.

Alcaraz missed the Australian Open in January due to a right leg injury, but since went 30-3 with four titles. Notably, he has not faced Djokovic this year. They could meet in the semifinals.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, was upset in the first round by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. It marked the first time a men’s top-two seed lost in the first round of any major since 2003 Wimbledon (Ivo Karlovic d. Lleyton Hewitt).

No. 12 Frances Tiafoe is the last American remaining, looking to become the first U.S. man to make the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003. Since then, five different American men combined to make the fourth round on eight occasions.

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

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