Nairobi — Immediate former Olympics marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir says she has gotten over the disappointment of relinquishing her title at the Paris Games.

Jepchirchir says she is, above all, grateful to God albeit she would have loved to win a second consecutive Olympics crown.

"The weather was not good for us, especially for me. I was well prepared, competing in all those races ahead of the Olympics and even smashing the women-only record. The race was tough but I thank God I managed to finish the race. I managed to finish 15th, something I have never experienced before but all in all I am grateful," the two-time world half marathon champion said.

She further bemoaned that the entire marathon team, including their male counterparts, were unable to retain their titles, noting that a podium sweep was on their wishlist.

"It was not easy...going there, I wanted to defend my title but it was not easy. Though we were not happy...we were expecting to sweep the podium places for the men and women's teams but we thank God we managed to win two bronze medals," Jepchirchir said.

Benson Kipruto and Hellen Obiri were the medalists for Kenya in the 42km race as the country missed out on gold unlike in 2021 in Tokyo when Eliud Kipchoge and Jepchirchir took first place.

The London Marathon champion endured a torrid time on the final day of the Paris Olympics, eventually finishing a disappointing 15th after clocking 2:26:51.

It could have been all so different for Jepchirchir who began impressively as part of a packed leading pack, up until the 30km mark when she petered away.

With Paris done and dusted, the 2022 Boston Marathon champion says she will be undertaking a radical surgery of her performance at the quadrennial games.

"I won't be partaking in celebrations because I did not come back with anything. I am going to sit down and see what to do next. I am going to recover well until next year...God knows," she said.

Jepchirchir docked into the country on Tuesday night from Paris.