THE athletics world now waits in anticipation for a Kenenisa Bekele and Eliud Kipchoge head-to-head over 26.2 miles after the Ethiopian distance running great missed the Kenyan world record-holder’s historic marathon mark of 2:01:39 by just two seconds in Berlin.
Adding another remarkable result to his legendary CV, Bekele blazed to a time of 2:01:41 and later said that he knows he can run faster.
“I know I can still run a very good marathon and I don’t give up,” he added.
In a thrilling race, the three-time Olympic track champion battled back to overcome a 13-second deficit at 35km, eventually winning by 67 seconds. Further demonstrating how incredible Bekele and Kipchoge’s times are, Birhanu Legese’s 2:02:48 for the runner-up spot places him third on the world all-time list, even though he was more than a minute back.
Completing an Ethiopian clean sweep, Sisay Lemma clocked 2:03:36 for third, while Kenyans Jonathan Korir and Felix Kandie were fourth and fifth with respective times of 2:06:45 and 2:08:07.
The women’s race was much closer and won by Ethiopia’s Ashete Bekere ahead of her compatriot Mare Dibaba, 2:20:14 to 2:20:21. Kenya’s Sally Chepyego was third in 2:21:06.
This story is from the October 03, 2019 edition of Athletics Weekly.
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This story is from the October 03, 2019 edition of Athletics Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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