Press Release - Hamburg Marathon - 3/21/17

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

          Both of London's Olympic Champions will run in Hamburg: 
                     Tiki Gelana completes the package

Both Olympic Marathon champions from London 2012 will be on the start line 
for the Haspa Marathon Hamburg on April 23: after Stephen Kiprotich's 
participation was confirmed last month, Tiki Gelana has completed the duo 
by confirming her entry for Germany's biggest spring Marathon. Their 
presence represents an unprecedented quality in Hamburg's elite field since 
never before has one Olympic gold medallist competed here. In terms of the 
overall field, at present more than 15,000 runners have entered for the 
32nd edition. Places remain available and registration can be made by going 
to the website: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de
 
"This is probably the best elite field in the history of the races which 
began more than 30 years ago. The strong elite fields and the current entry 
figures promise a great Haspa Marathon Hamburg," said race organiser Frank 
Thaleiser.

Tiki Gelana's national record of 2:18:58 makes her the fastest woman runner 
to have entered the Haspa Marathon Hamburg by a considerable margin since 
she is the first sub-2:20 performer to compete. In 2011 and 2012 she was 
unbeaten over the classic distance. After winning in Amsterdam, Gelana, who 
is now 29, won the Rotterdam title and set the current Ethiopian record. 
This sequence of success was crowned by her Olympic triumph in London.
 
Her personal best in Rotterdam in 2012 makes her the fourth fastest woman 
marathon runner of all time. In 2016 she suffered setbacks and the fast 
course of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg offers a good platform to show her 
true capabilities once more. Her strongest rivals on April 23 are likely to 
be Jessica Augusto of Portugal and possibly the Kenyan Viola Kibiwot who is 
making her debut at the distance.
 
The participation of the men's Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich of 
Uganda, whose best is 2:06:33, and Ethiopia's Tsegaye Mekonnen has been 
known for some time. Mekonnen's personal best of 2:04:32 makes him the 
fastest man ever on the Hamburg start list. Two more talented Ethiopian 
runners have now been added to the mix: Tsegaye Kebede, the 2008 Olympic 
bronze medallist and Tadesse Tola. Kebede's impressive career so far 
includes victories against high quality fields in London and Chicago. He 
ran his personal best of 2:04:38 in winning Chicago and has broken 2:06 on 
three other occasions. At 29, Tola is one year younger and won a bronze 
medal in the 2013 World Championship marathon. He ran his best time of 
2:04:49 in finishing third in Dubai in 2013.
 
Another athlete to watch should be Eric Ndiema who is making a return to 
Hamburg. The 24-year-old Kenyan has a good pedigree in the race, finishing 
second here in 2:07:00 in 2014. His current best is 2:06:07. A total of six 
athletes who have run under 2:07 are now on the start list for the April 23 
race and that includes a trio who have broken 2:05. A clear sign that this 
is the best quality field ever assembled in the history of the Haspa 
Marathon Hamburg.

Selected elite athletes with personal bests:

Men:
Tsegaye Mekonnen ETH 2:04:32
Tsegaye Kebede ETH 2:04:38
Tadesse Tola ETH 2:04:49
Eric Ndiema KEN 2:06:07
Stephen Kiprotich UGA 2:06:33
Limenih Getachew ETH 2:06:49
Joel Kimurer KEN 2:07:48
Ernest Ngeno KEN 2:07:49
Robert Chemosin KEN 2:08:05
Japhet Kosgei KEN 2:08:08
Jose Antonio Uribe MEX 2:08:55
Tujuba Megersa ETH 2:09:28
Gilbert Masai KEN 2:09:49
Joshua Kipkorir KEN 2:09:50
Philipp Pflieger GER 2:12:50

Women:
Tiki Gelana ETH 2:18:58
Jessica Augusto POR 2:24:25
Adriana da Silva BRA 2:29:17
Megertu Ifa ETH 2:29:45
Mona Stockhecke GER 2:31:30
Viola Kibiwot KEN Debut

More information about the Haspa Marathon Hamburg and online entry is 
available at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de 

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