FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HASPA MARATHON HAMBURG ON 23rd APRIL
Olympic Marathon Champion Stephen Kiprotich will run in Hamburg
For the first time in the history of the Haspa Hamburg Marathon an Olympic
Marathon champion will be on the start line of the elite field: Stephen
Kiprotich will be a star attraction on April 23 in Hamburg. The Ugandan
caused a sensation when he surprised the favourites to win the Olympic gold
in London in 2012, promoted to sporting superstar status overnight in his
home country. A year later Kiprotich added to his tally of gold medals in
winning the World Marathon title in Moscow. The 27-year-old continued to
show his appetite for championship running by finishing sixth in the 2015
World Championships in Beijing. Meanwhile he also improved his own national
record to 2:06:33 when finishing second in the Tokyo Marathon.
Although Stephen Kiprotich has won two major global titles, victory in a
big city marathon is one achievement missing so far in his running
portfolio. He did win the Enschede marathon in 2011 with 2:07:20 but
success in Hamburg would be of a different order.
Another leading contender has also been announced and that is Tsegaye
Mekonnen. The 21-year-old Ethiopian is considerably faster than the Olympic
champion Kiprotich with his best of 2:04:32, achieved on his sensational
marathon debut in Dubai in 2014. His performance was the fastest ever by a
junior, though remains an unofficial world record since the world governing
body of the IAAF does not recognise junior records in the marathon.
After a strong showing to finish third in Dubai a year ago with 2:04:46, he
suffered setbacks in his next two races, failing to finish in Berlin in
September and coming in tenth in 2:11:54 on his return to Dubai. Hamburg
offers him, still in the early stages of his marathon career, the chance to
regain his place in the top flight. At his best, Tsegaye and his rivals
would have their eyes set on the course record which stands at 2:05:31.
The Kenyan duo of Joel Kimurer and Robert Chemosin is likely to offer
strong opposition to Stephen Kiprotich and Tsegaye Mekonnen. Last November
Kimurer won the Seoul Marathon in 2:08:07, the 29-year-old narrowly missing
his personal best of 2:07:48. In the spring of 2016 he won the Vienna City
Marathon in 2:09:48, running into a strong head wind for much of the race.
The race organiser Frank Thaleiser has a simple explanation why high
quality athletes continue to run in Hamburg, despite the relatively small
budget for elite runners of 300,000 Euro: "The top runners don't come to
Hamburg because of the money because our prize money is hardly among the
biggest out there. They come because we, in partnership with Global Sports
Communication, can offer them perfect conditions. These include a strong
field overall, top pacemakers and a first class service for them in terms
of the race and build-up. The course in the city beside the River Elbe is
one of the fastest in the world and, if the weather is favourable, very
fast times are part and parcel of the event."
So far 13,000 runners have entered the race on April 23. "That's around the
same number as this time last year," said Frank Thaleiser. "We're delighted
with the way the event is developing and plan to set a limit of 16,000
starters in the marathon in future to improve the logistics of event
organisation still further," said Thaleiser.
More information about the Haspa Marathon Hamburg and online entry is
available at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de
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