RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Olympic womens marathon field passed by the sleek waterfront profile of the Museum of Tomorrow on Sunday on its way to the finish line, with the Questions of Today hovering close at hand.Jemima Sumgong earned Kenyas first womens marathon gold by shaking the two runners who stayed with her until the last mile and finishing in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 4 seconds. The country collected an honorary silver of sorts, thanks to Eunice Kirwa, who switched her national allegiance from Kenya to Bahrain less than three years ago at age 29, which made her path to Rio a considerably less cluttered one.Those achievements will be viewed through a different lens after a four-year Olympic cycle that has left distance running in general and Kenyan runners in particular battered and under intense scrutiny.All three U.S. runners finished in the top 10 on Sunday, and each took away something shiny. Shalane Flanagan, who crossed the line in sixth place (2:25:06), was pleased with the way she managed Sundays heat -- 70 degrees at the start -- after she dehydrated badly at the U.S. trials in Los Angeles. As the leaders surged around the 18-mile mark, Flanagan laid off the pace in hopes of benefiting from attrition that never happened.Im happy I hung in as long as I could, said Flanagan, the 10th-place finisher four years ago in London. Unfortunately, it just wasnt enough. Had I maybe been able to just push a little bit sooner, maybe I still could have just still have been part of the carnage, but closer. Maybe I gave up a little bit too much ground, but thats all I have. Thats what I am.Desiree Linden, who followed in seventh, was the embodiment of consistency, despite running solo for a considerable stretch. Her 13.1-mile splits --1:13:02 on the front end and 1:13:06 coming home -- were a testament to fitness and discipline at the end of a slow, patient build-back from the femoral stress fracture that forced her to pull out of the London 2012 marathon after two miles.I wanted to have another gear over that last 10 or 12K, said Linden, who took several turns leading the pack in the early going. I think I might have been a little too aggressive. I got excited, I could see myself closing in, and I just got stuck in one pace.I put everything out there. Im not upset at all. I wish I were a little bit better. I wish I were a little closer.Amy Cragg, running her first Olympic marathon, fought stomach problems and struggled late in the race but willed herself into ninth place.Kenyas dominant distance running contingent took a hit to its reputation before the London 2012 torch was extinguished, when runner Mathew Kisorio confessed to doping and said the practice was widespread. Successive waves of allegations and investigations have washed over the countrys track and field program since then, implicating athletes, coaches, administrators and a flimsy anti-doping structure.One of the countrys most successful and prominent runners, three-time Boston Marathon winner Rita Jeptoo, is still enmeshed in appeals over a two-year ban for a positive EPO test. Her agent, Federico Rosa, who also represents Sumgong, is facing criminal charges for administering performance-enhancing drugs to Jeptoo and another athlete. Yet Rosa, out on bail, was present at the finish line Sunday, symbolizing the low clouds of recent history that cast a haze over every Kenyan runners accomplishments.Sumgong, who recovered from a fall to win this years London Marathon, declared that she was clean in a postrace press conference that was complicated in a way that is becoming familiar at the Summer Games and other events. There was plenty more to throw in the hopper.The official Rio 2016 biography of Volha Mazuronak of Belarus, the fifth-place finisher who ran with the lead pack for much of the race, lists Russias Liliya Shobukhova as one of her two coaches.I was wondering what she was doing up there, Flanagan said of Mazuronak, who logged a notable negative split in the London Marathon a few months ago. Id never seen her before. That was impressive.Shobukhova was a key figure in recent revelations about organized doping in that country, including bribes paid to officials to have positive tests covered up. Her ban for biological passport abnormalities retroactively cost her one London Marathon and three Chicago Marathon titles, and she later cooperated with authorities in exchange for a reduction in her suspension that officially ended last August.The World Marathon Majors sued to recover prize money from Shobukhova and received a British court judgment against her but must now try to have that enforced in Russia.In my opinion, Shobukhova should not be permitted to be taking part in athletics in any role, WMM general counsel Nick Bitel wrote in a text to ESPN.com.In another footnote, Peruvian runner Gladys Tejeda toed the start line a little more than a year after winning marathon gold at the Pan American Games, only to have the medal stripped because of a positive test for a diuretic. She served a six-month suspension and finished 15th Sunday.Josh Cox, a former U.S. elite runner who represents Linden, found himself juggling his desire to celebrate race day while acknowledging the sports credibility problems.Its discouraging when you know some coaches and agents and teams live in a gray area, he said. We have to continue to pursue steps and keep the people at the top accountable. And sponsors have to hold them accountable. Im not saying all U.S. athletes are clean, but at least they have the possibility of USADA [the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency] showing up at their door at 6 a.m.A couple intruders jumped onto the finishing straight Sunday, underscoring the impossibility of safeguarding all 26.2 miles of road. They were whisked away by police before they could interfere with the outcome. At this point, its hard to imagine the firepower it will take to secure faith in the results. 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Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. PORTLAND, Ore. -- Recently Mariah Stackhouse was flipping through some old photos, and she came across a few of herself playing golf when she was just a little kid.And it dawned on her that even though shes making her debut as a professional in the Portland Classic, shed been working toward this goal for a long time.Just looking at that span and knowing how much Ive grown and how much has changed in my life, its pretty -- I guess `special is the word, she said, and I feel fortunate to have made it this far.The 72-hole Portland Classic gets underway on Thursday at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. The tournament, in its 45th year, is the longest-running non-major on the LPGA Tour.Stackhouse just wrapped her college career at Stanford, where she was a four-year All-American. She helped the Cardinal to an NCAA title in 2015 and to the team final against eventual winner Washington this year -- played just a couple of hours drive away in Eugene.The camaraderie Ive shared with my teammates the past four years, especially these last two with such good performances all the way through postseason, its a lot fun, the communications major said. I think those are the memories that Ill carry with me from my college golf experience.But Stackhouse was a prodigy well before her career at Stanford.When she was just 2 years old, father Ken recognized that she may have a talent for the game. She played in her first tournament at age 6 and tied for first, playing against 9-year-olds.In 2011, at the age of 17, she became the youngest African American woman to earn a spot in the field at the U.S. Open. In 2014, she became the first African American woman to make the Curtis Cup team, which the United States won that year.Ive been workiing hard and I recognize its another level.dddddddddddd Im just excited to go out here and play against the girls that Ive been wanting to play with for a long time now, she said about her pro debut.Stackhouse is playing in the Portland Classic on a sponsors exemption. Shes written asking for exemptions to other LPGA tournaments (shes allowed six) and may play in some Monday qualifiers. She says she wants to also play events on the developmental Symetra Tour.The Portland Classic will cap quite a month for Stackhouse. In addition to graduation, she signed with Sterling Sports Management, which also represents Stacy Lewis and Brittany Lincicome. She also landed a global endorsement deal with international professional services company KPMG, which also sponsors Lewis and Phil Mickelson.Brooke Henderson won last years Portland Classic by eight strokes after joining the field as a Monday qualifier. A year later, Henderson is ranked No. 2 in the world and has a major championship.We saw Brooke Henderson earn her LPGA status in Portland last year and look forward to seeing if Mariah can match that feat this year, said Tom Maletis, president of Tournament Golf Foundation, which runs the event.While shes already come a long way from that little kid with a sense for the sport, Stackhouse admits shes a little nervous for her first foray as a pro.You know, something that Ive worked on is definitely thinking about it as being the next step. But, yeah, there is definitely nerves, she said. Not the bad nerves, just this is a very exciting week. Its something that Ive looked forward to my whole life. ' ' '