Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba won the women’s marathon at the World Athletics Championships after a thrilling sprint finish along the home straight of the Beijing National Stadium yesterday.
The 25-year-old Dibaba out-kicked Kenya’s Helah Kiprop to win the grueling event by just one second, crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 27 minutes, 35 seconds.
The long-striding Kiprop briefly threatened to take the gold medal when she loomed up on the outside of Dibaba with 50m left to run, but could not get past the pint-sized Ethiopian.
Photo: EPA
Kiprop faded slightly and had to settle for the silver medal, while the bronze went to the reigning Asian champion Eunice Kirwa, who was born in Kenya, but now competes for Bahrain.
Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-fang finished in 45th place in 2 hours, 48 minutes, 1 second, while compatriot Hsieh Chien-ho came in 52nd place with a time of 2 hours, 58 minutes, 25 seconds.
Ethiopia has a long and proud tradition in marathon running, but Dibaba was the first Ethiopian woman to win the event at a world championships.
“I am so happy to get the first medal for my country,” she said through a translator. “Just after 40km, I tried to test them. I came out in front because I wanted to control. Then we came into the stadium, I just tried my best. I take off and I win the marathon.”
Dibaba went into the race as the favorite after recording the fastest time in the world this year, but was unable to shake off her competitors on a overcast morning in China’s capital, where conditions were less brutal than usual.
There were still a dozen runners in the leading pack at the 30km mark, but as the pace picked up, they slowly began to drop off.
By the 35km mark, just six remained in the leading bunch, then five as they passed 40km.
Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat, who won the last two world championships marathons, dropped from the leading group about 2km from the finish and settled for fifth.
However, there were still four women in contention when they reached the stadium. Kenya’s Jemima Sumgong lost touch in the entry tunnel and missed out on the podium despite finishing just seven seconds behind the winner.
Dibaba dashed clear as they reached the edge of the track. Kirwa tried to go with her, but had no energy left and settled for the bronze.
“I had pain in my leg, so I decided to stay behind [the leaders] as the pace continued pushing, pushing, but at 35km, I see it is better to push the pace because I was looking toward the finish line,” Dibaba said.
Kiprop was the last to challenge Dibaba and although she came up short, she was pleased just to get on the podium, fearing she might be the unlucky one when the four leaders entered the stadium tunnel.
“Everyone was very strong. I was thinking that maybe I would be fourth, but at the end I saw it was possible for me to go and so I tried,” Kiprop said. “I feel very excited because I did not expect [to win a medal]. It was my first time to be at the world championships and the first time I represented my country.”
Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana put on a brilliant display of front-running to win the women’s 5,000m and deprive compatriot Genzebe Dibaba of an unprecedented double gold.
The 23-year-old broke for home with four laps to go and clocked a championship record 14 minutes, 26.83 seconds to win by more than 17 seconds, leading home an Ethiopian podium sweep.
Genzebe Dibaba, who was hoping to become the first woman to win both the 1,500m and 5,000m at the same world championships or Olympics, was pipped at the line by compatriot Senbere Teferi, who took silver.
To add insult to injury, the championship record Ayana bettered was set by bronze medalist Genzebe Dibaba’s sister, Tirunesh, at the 2005 world championships.
Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop won the men’s 1,500m world title for the third time yesterday. The 2011 and 2013 champion produced a late charge from 12th place to first in the last half-lap to take gold.
The tall, leggy Asbel Kiprop, 26, strode majestically to the finish and clocked 3 minutes, 34.40 seconds, running the final lap in 51 seconds as his rivals battled and stumbled behind him to the line.
Asbel Kiprop’s victory secured Kenya’s seventh gold medal of the world championships.
His teammate Elijah Manangoi took the silver in 3 minutes, 34.63 seconds and Morocco’s Abdelaati Iguider threw himself across the line to secure the bronze in 3 minutes, 34.67 seconds.
Jamaica captured the women’s world 4x400m relay title. The US took silver second and Britain finished third.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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