In France fourth place is jokingly known as the médaille en chocolat, Emile Cairess had no issues accepting his prize, though in this sort of heat had to hope it wouldn’t melt.

On the hardest Olympic marathon course of all-time, the Leeds athlete claimed the scalps of some of distance running's biggest names as he recorded the best British performance in two decades.

Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder seeking an improbable third straight Olympic gold, found it so tough he resorted to walking. It was pretty exhausting to watch, let alone run.

Cairess though rhythmically powered up and down a series of stubborn hills on the city outskirts and crossed the line at Invalides just 29 seconds outside a place on the podium.

"I’m really proud of myself, I’m really happy with that," he said, his position equalling Jon Brown's result at the 2004 Games in Athens while Leeds team-mate Philip Sesemann came 46th in 2:13:08.

"I just wanted to give myself a chance. That was my thinking, just try to run as fast as I could until the end. Maybe one of them would blow up and I could catch them, but it just so happened that three of them didn’t blow up. 

"The course was tough, it was really hard, probably harder than I even imagined. I’ve only done two marathons. London is pretty flat and with the hills this felt much longer too."

Cairess is a man of few words, but he can be forgiven that after slogging away for over 26 miles as the cool early morning morphed into searing temperatures and breathless humidity in the French capital.

In recent Games we've become used to dead flat and dead boring city centre circuit marathons, but Paris dared to be different, saving this sadistic test till last.  The athletes wouldn’t have appreciated it, but it made the race significantly more interesting for those watching.

The women, who compete on Sunday morning, will not sleep any easier having watched the human debris left behind by this lung-burning stamina test.

"That was like a cross-country race - for two hours," said Canada's Rory Linkletter.

"I feel like I run two marathons," added France's Nicolas Navarro.

Survival was the goal and while 71 staggered across the finish line, Kipchoge was one of ten who didn't make it.

The course was a torture test, snaking west toward Versailles, along the route taken by thousands of women, early in the French Revolution, who were seeking reforms from King Louis XVI at his palace.

Athletes trained not just for the energy-sapping hills but the equally demanding descents, running downhill being one of the biggest causes of injury in distance running.

The closing stages took in all the postcard landmarks, though no-one was in a fit state to enjoy the sights and the finish line at the Esplanade des Invalides, the famous home of 17th-century hospital, was well selected for so many broken bodies.

Cairess is already the second fastest British marathon runner of all-time and aged just 26 is athlete fast approaching his prime.

This run will earn him some lucrative invites from the World Marathon Majors series and the compete regularly with the best in the world will be crucial in his development.

It's a long time to the next Olympics but Los Angeles was the last city where Britain won a men's marathon medal, Charlie Spedding's bronze in 1984.

"I’ll try to train more, be consistent and not put pressure on myself to do anything else," he added.

"I've got big ambitions; I want to be competitive but I'm also realistic about how tough this sport is. It’s just a lot of hard work ahead, there aren’t any shortcuts.”

Kipchoge's poor performance may overshadow Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola's gold medal run, a brilliant display of forward running that broke the resolve of his rivals. Belgium's Bashir Abdi and Kenya's Benson Kipruto completed the podium, but Tola seemed in total control from early in the race.

"Kipchoge was so consistent over so many years, so it didn’t really matter what he did, his legacy as the best marathon runner ever is already cemented," added Cairess.

"He’s had a massive impact. He’s set world records, is a double Olympic champion, he’s an example to all the other marathon runners and has set the bar for everyone else.”

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