The lack of big stars due to the proximity of dates to the Paris 2024 Olympic event has not tarnished the Berlin Marathon of the 50th anniversary, with victory for Ethiopians Milkesa Mengesha with 2h03’17 and Tigist Ketema with 2h16’42 ahead of 58,000 participants.
“I’m very happy to win in Berlin. I trained hard and studied myself well throughout the course to quickly. Everything went well until me I had to stop for a while at km 38 and I thought the race was going to get away from me. It’s not like that, I joined the leading group and won,” explained the winner.
The success of Mengesha It was forged in the last kilometer when he launched a powerful attack to break the hand-to-hand duel against the Kenyan. Cybrian Kotutyour companion throughout the exam. The race is more of a test of endurance, without big stars taking the initiative and with very high average level runners. At kilometer 35 there are up to seven runners looking for victory in the lead and with two finishes, four marathon runners have to share the three podium places. Mengesha won in 2h03’17 ahead of Kotut (2h03’22) and Haymanot Alew (2h03’31). The average level was so high that the top four finishers managed to stop the clock under 2h04′ and the top 21 in the table managed to stop under 2h08′.
The women’s race is a single struggle against the era of Tigist Ketemavery far from his rivals and supported at all times by his hares and a group of men with whom he has the rhythm. The Ethiopian won with 2h16’42, fulfilling his goal of doing so with a personal best. Behind, the second classified reached two minutes, his compatriot Mestawot Fikir with 2h18’48. The Ethiopian also completed the podium Bosena Mulatie with 2h19’00.
The test began on October 13, 1974 with only 286 participants, encouraged by Horst Milde and now it has more than 50,000 runners from more than 150 countries. And those are the lucky ones who got a number in the draw to participate due to high demand. A test named ‘the town marathon‘ who crossed the Brandenburg Gate for the first time in 1990, days before German reunification, the undisputed icon and goal of this race. Throughout its five decades, 13 world records have been broken on its streets, nine men’s and four women’s, as in Haile Gebrselassie, Eliud Kipchoge, Dennis Kimetto, Patrick Makau, Paul Tergat, Tegla Loroupe and Ronaldo da Costa.
RESULT
Man
1. Milkesa Mengesha (ETH) 2h03’17
2. Cybrian Kotut (KEN) 2h03’22
3. Haymanot Alew (ETH) 2h03’31
4. Stephen Kiprop (KEN) 2h03’37
5. Hailemariam Kiros (ETH) 2h04’35
6. Yohei Ikeda (JPN) 2h05’12
7. Tadese Takele (ETH) 2h05’13
8. Oqbe Kibrom (ERI) 2h05’37
9. Enock Onchari (KEN) 2h05’53
10. Melaku Belachew (ETH) 2h06’30
woman
1. Tigist Ketema (ETH) 2h16’42
2. Mestawot Fikir (ETH) 2h18’48
3. Bosena Mulatie (ETH) 2h19’00
4. Ayana Mulisa (ETH) 2h20’20
5. Ai Hosoda (JPN) 2h20’31
6. Mizuki Matsuda (JPN) 2h20’42
7. Calli Hauger-Thackery (GBR) 2h21’24
8. Yebregual Melese (ETH) 2h21’39
9. Fikrte Wereta (ETH) 2h23’23
10. Meseret Gola (ETH) 2h23’36
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
