Commonwealth Games 2022: Jess Stenson wins marathon as three Aussies finish in top five
After two bronze medals Jess Stenson has broken through for an emotional gold in the Commonwealth Games marathon and immediately paid tribute to her hero, Kerryn McCann.
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As Jess Stenson surged towards a remarkable Commonwealth Games marathon victory she started thinking about two special people — two-year-old son Billy and her hero Kerryn McCann.
Just before the start of the race, her coach Adam Didyk had told her to think about Billy’s smile if he got to see his mum win a gold medal.
“I was thinking of that cheeky little grin, Billy’s smile out there,” Stenson revealed afterwards, adding that her son didn’t like sweat so she was yet to get a celebratory hug.
“He doesn’t want to hug me because I’m wet but I’ll dry off and we’ll have a big cuddle. He doesn’t understand what this is all about today but these experiences I’m sure will be an important part of his development.”
Unfortunately she won’t be able to hug the person who has inspired her career given McCann tragically died of breast cancer two years after her famous marathon victory at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
McCann’s race is one of the greatest in Games history with the lead changing six times in the final two kilometres between her and Kenya’s Hellen Cherono Koskei before the hometown hero prevailed by just two seconds.
And like her hero, Stenson found herself in a similar battle over the final few kilometres in Birmingham with Kenya’s Margaret Muriuki.
“It means a lot and I was thinking of Kerryn out there,” she said.
“I thought about Kerryn’s closing kilometres in that battle against the Kenyan woman as she entered the MCG.
“In 2014 my coach (Didyk) organised a few athletes, Steve Monegehetti, (Rob) De Castella, Lisa Ondieki, some of our greats of the marathon to write in a book for me and I read their messages last night.
“All of that history really turns into strength that we can use to try and continue that history.”
Stenson (formerly Trengove) created her own piece of history by becoming the first woman to win three marathon medals at the Commonwealth Games after taking bronze in Glasgow in 2014 and on the Gold Coast in 2018.
Australia has now won six editions of the race with Stenson’s victory in 2hr27min31sec, the first since McCann in 2006.
Earlier, Melbourne electrician Liam Adams said failing to know the layout of the Birmingham course cost him a medal while Madi de Rozario claimed gold in the para marathon.
But in the women’s race three Aussies finished in the top five - both also mums - with Eloise Wellings finishing fourth (2:30.51sec) and Sinead Diver fifth (2:31.06sec),
Stenson paid tribute to her teammates, pointing out that Wellings had played a pivotal role in her victory when she selflessly handed over an important caffeine gel midway through the race.
“Honestly, that was one for the team. Like, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without those girls,” she said.
“At 20km, I had a really important water bottle with a caffeinated gel on it. It wasn’t there so Elsie gave me her caffeinated gel. I wouldn’t have got that result without that.
“I want those girls to wear the medal too, because it was a real team effort today.”
Stenson stepped away from the sport in 2019 to have Billy before returning last year where she ran a career best in Perth in her first race as a mother.
“I’m a more relaxed runner as a mother and I can just enjoy the process a bit more,” she said.
“I really wasn’t thinking about the outcome today. I was just trying to tick off each 5k and that’s what you do as a mum, that’s what you are doing as you can’t think too far ahead.
“It’s just one moment at a time and you can’t control it so you just have to respond to what is happening and I think that gives women a lot of strength as parents.”
Back home in Adelaide, her parents and brother Jack, former Melbourne and Port Adelaide midfielder, were celebrating a victory they’d known she was capable of for a long time.
“She’s been through the ringer recently,” Jack said. “She’s had injuries, she’s popped out a baby, she’s done it all.
“To be honest I thought she was capable of going all the way and I never want to admit it to anybody else, but between her and I, I always thought she could go the extra leg and get a gold medal.”
Stenson planned to celebrate that gold medal with husband Dylan and Billy by indulging in a hamburger.
“I feel like a burger, we have had so much rice that I can’t wait to go into the food hall and eat something with a bit of colour. “And I also might have a beer.”
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