Berlin. The Ethiopian athletes Tigist Ketema and Milkesa Mengesha won the Berlin marathon this Sunday, one of the six considered ‘majors’ and which in this edition celebrated its 50th anniversary, although both runners were far from the respective world records.
Ketema won with a time of 2:16.42, the third best female mark in history in the Berlin marathon, although almost five minutes slower than the record achieved last year in this event by her training partner and compatriot Tigist Assefa (2 :11.53).
The 26-year-old Ethiopian is a novice in long distances, having debuted with victory in her first participation in a marathon, in January in Dubai.
After having clearly dominated the race from kilometer five, she was more than two minutes ahead of her pursuers, the also Ethiopians Mestawot Fikir and Bosena Mulatie, who completed the podium.
The men’s race was more closely contested, in which Menghesa, 24, won, completing the 42.195 km route in 2 hours, three minutes and 17 seconds.
Mengesha won his first major, improving his personal record by more than two minutes (2:05.29), to beat Kenyan Cibrian Kotut at the finish line by five seconds and his compatriot Haymanot Alew by 14 seconds.
However, the winner was far from the world distance record held by Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum with 2:00.35 in last year’s Chicago Marathon.
#Ethiopian #athletes #Ketema #Mengesha #win #marathon #Berlin
– 2024-10-06 14:14:58
