Gelmisa won the Tokyo Marathon in his return to normalcy after 4 years

the ethiopian Hello Gelmisa this Sunday crowned the tokyo marathon in the sixteenth edition of the race, marking its return to normality in the participation of runners after four years affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

Nearly 38,000 runners participated this Sunday in the Japanese capital’s marathon, the country’s largest, which was held on a normal scale after disruptions caused by the health crisis, which led to the cancellation of the 2020 edition and subsequent ones. the only participation of professional athletes.

The starting signal took place at 9:00 local time (00:00 GMT) in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building on a cloudy and cold morning in the city.

gelmisa25 years old, crossed the finish line 2 hours, 5 minutes and 22 secondsless than a second before his countryman Mohamed Esa 22 years old, who was in second position at the same time.

He is also Ethiopian Tsegaye Getachew He closed out the podium just three seconds behind his teammates, with a time of 2:05:25. the kenyan Titus Cypruto crossed the finish line in fourth place (2:05:32), followed by the Canadian Cameron Levins (2:05:36).

In the female category, the Kenyan Rosemary Wanjiru He is in first position with an hour of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 28 secondsclearly leading the race ahead of the Ethiopians Tsehay Gemechu (2:16:56), Ashete Bekere (2:19:11) and Workenesh Edessa (2:20:13).

The return to normality in the race was also noticed by the influx of spectators and cheers in the streets, after in recent years citizens were asked to refrain from cheering on the runners as a preventive measure against the virus.