Mengesha and Ketema win Berlin Marathon titles | REPORTS

Milkesa Mengesha and Tigist Ketema achieved an Ethiopian double at the BMW Berlin Marathon World Athletics Platinum Label Road race, on Sunday (29th).

In the 50th edition of the event, held on a sunny morning in the German capital, Mengesha edged out Cybrian Kotut in the closing stages to win the men’s title with a best time of 2:03:17, with Ketema running towards her single-handedly a 2:16:42 triumph in the women’s race.

Kenya’s Kotut finished five seconds behind Mengesha to take second place in 2:03:22, while Ethiopia’s Haymanot Alew was third in 2:03:31. Ketema led the Ethiopian top four in the women’s race, winning by more than two minutes over her compatriots Mestawut Fikir (2:18:48), Bosena Mulatie (2:19:00) and Aberu Ayana (2:20:20). ). .

Mengesha, who finished sixth in the World Championships marathon last year, was among a leading group of 11 people who followed the pacers to the halfway point with a sub-2:02 pace of 1:00:57.

Kenya’s former half marathon world record holder, Kibiwott Kandie, was at the forefront when the pacers stepped aside just after 25km. The group had reduced to eight and had moved together by the time the 30km was reached in 1:27:21, and seven were still in the race – including Tadese Takele of Ethiopia, the fastest man in the field – when they completed the 35km Mark exceeded in 1 :42:14.

Kandie, Takele and Ethiopian Dejene Megersa were unable to keep up and the race went to Mengesha, Kotut, Kenyan Stephen Kiprop and Alew with around 5km to go. They reached the 40km mark in 1:56:59 before Mengesha and Kotut took the lead.

Mengesha left his rival behind when the finish line at the Brandenburg Gate was in sight, crossed it and won in 2:03:17, the third fastest time in the world so far this year and a best time that surpassed the previous best time he set in 2022 Valencia had set up a score of more than 30% over two minutes.

He fell to his knees and was followed by Kotut across the finish line in 2:03:22, also a best time of more than a minute.

Ketema was a dominant winner of the women’s race. The 26-year-old, who ran a time of 2:16:07 in her marathon debut in Dubai in January, is training partner of Tigist Assefa, who set a world record of 2:11:53 when she won in Berlin last year.

This time Ketema was in control and was accompanied by her compatriot Azmera Gebru and a group of men Men’s race Runners as 5km was achieved in 16:06 and 10km in 32:14.

Ketema had a 12-second lead at the halfway point, which she achieved in 1:07:53, and only increased her lead from there. She reached 30km in 1:36:59, by which time Gebru had been overtaken, with Ketema’s closest pursuers being Mulatie, Fikir and Ayana, who together ran a minute and 53 seconds back.

Ketema continued to progress, reaching 40km in 2:09:24, 2 minutes and 20 seconds behind. While Fikir caught up slightly, Ketema remained clear and won with 2:16:42, the third fastest time in the women’s race at the Berlin Marathon.

Fikir came second with 2:18:48, a best of almost two minutes, while Mulatie came third with 2:19:00, almost eight minutes off her previous best.

Leading results

Women
1 Tigist Ketema (ETH) 2:16:42
2 Mestawut Fikir (ETH) 2:18:48
3 Bosena Mulatie (ETH) 2:19:00
4 Aberu Ayana (ETH) 2:20:20
5 Ai Hosoda (JPN) 2:20:31
6 Mizuki Matsuda (JPN) 2:20:42
7 Calli Hauger-Thackery (GBR) 2:21:24
8 Yebregual Melese (ETH) 2:21:39

Men
1 Milkesa Mengesha (ETH) 2:03:17
2 Cybrian Kotut (KEN) 2:03:22
3 Haymanot Alew (ETH) 2:03:31
4 Stephen Kiprop (KEN) 2:03:37
5 Hailemaryam Kiros (ETH) 2:04:35
6 Yohei Ikeda (JPN) 2:05:12
7 Tadese Takele (ETH) 2:05:13
8 Oqbe Kibrom Ruesom (ERI) 2:05:37