Ethiopian duo Milkesa Mengesha and Tigist Ketema yesterday won the men’s and women’s races respectively in the 50th running of the Berlin Marathon.
Mengesha finished just five seconds ahead of Kenyan Kotut in 2 hours, 3 minutes 17 seconds, with both recording personal bests. The time was not yet official as of press time last night.
The times were outside the late Kelvin Kiptum’s world record of 2:00.35 and five-time Berlin winner Eliud Kipchoge’s course record of 2:01.09, set in 2022.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Ketema, who ran her first marathon earlier this year, won in an as yet unofficial time of 2:16.42. Ketema’s time was just less than 5 minutes slower than training partner Tigist Assefa’s world record of 2:11.53, but is the third-best winning time among the women in Berlin Marathon history.
With the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, many of the big names were missing from the starting blocks, including Kipchoge, who has broken the world mark twice in the German capital.
The leading men’s group broke away early, setting a strong pace over the first 10km of 28:42, just outside world record time, but slowed gradually in sunny conditions.
Just before the 40km mark, four men pulled away from the pack: Mengesha, Kotut, Haymanot Alew and Stephen Kiprop. With the Brandenburg Gate in sight, Mengesha and Kotut distanced themselves from the chasers and were neck and neck until the Ethiopian edged ahead in the final meters.
Alongside fellow Ethiopian Azmera Gebru, Ketema opened up an early lead over the rest of the pack, pulling away after 5km. Just before the halfway mark, Ketema began to pull away from Gebru, opening up a 12-second lead. Ketema continued to pull away from her compatriot, eventually crossing the line 2 minutes, 6 seconds ahead of second-placed Mestawot Fikir.
The 26-year-old Ketema is a newcomer to marathons, having run her first in January in Dubai. Although it was unofficial, her time of 2:16.07 was the best ever recorded by a debutant, showing she belongs at this level.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their