Rio Olympics: Marblehead's Shalane Flanagan 6th in Marathon

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Marblehead-born Shalane Flanagan ran to a sixth-place finish in Sunday's marathon at the Rio Olympics. Kenya's Jemima Sumgong captured first with a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 4 seconds. Flangan's time was 2:25:26.

"We laid our hearts out in training and on the course in Rio," Flanagan said in a statement. "The result may not be what we dreamed of but we made history in a different way ... proud to be an American."

Flanagan's time was best among U.S. runners. Fellow Americans Desiree Linden (2:26:08) and Amy Cragg (2:28:25), captured seventh and ninth place, respectively.

Flanagan went into Rio seeking to add to her medal collection. In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, she captured bronze in the 10,000 meters.

Flanagan, 35, participated in her fourth straight Olympics at Rio; she's one of only a handful of Team USA members with four Olympic appearances. Flanagan grew up in her Marblehead and now lives in Portland, Oregon.

Flanagan is also an author.