FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kenenisa Bekele misses World Record by two seconds
in sensational Comeback Victory
Kenenisa Bekele made a sensational return to his international best with
victory at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON, missing the world record by just two
seconds. For good measure, the 37-year-old Ethiopian set a national record
and the fastest time in the world this year. Only his great Kenyan rival
Eliud Kipchoge, who ran 2:01:39 here in Berlin last year, ranks above him
in the world all-time list. Bekele knows all too well what it is like to
miss the world record by a narrow margin.
In 2016 he won in 2:03:03 which was just six seconds outside the then world
record. There are also historical precedents for such narrow misses in
marathon history: in 1985 the Welshman Steve Jones ran within one second of
the world record in Chicago. Behind Kenenisa Bekele his fellow Ethiopian
Birhanu Legese finished second in 2:02:48 to become the third fastest
marathoner in history. Third place went to Sisay Lemma, running a personal
best of 2:03:36 to complete the Ethiopian clean sweep. The best German
runner was Jens Nerkamp who ran 2:14:54 to finish 37th. In good weather
conditions Ashete Bekere contributed her share to the Ethiopian
celebrations with victory in her best time of 2:20:14, the fifth fastest
women's time of the year. Last year's winner Gladys Cherono of Kenya
dropped out at around 30km while Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia finished second in
2:20:21. Sally Chepyego, a teammate of world record holder Eliud Kipchoge,
took third place in 2:21:06.
Melat Kejeta, Ethiopian-born but since March a German citizen, made a
scintillating marathon debut to finish sixth in 2:23:57 and become the
second fastest German woman ever in the marathon. For the first time, the
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON was the final race in the Abbott World Marathon Majors
(AWMM) series. Eliud Kipchoge took the overall title, having won in Berlin
last year and London this spring while Brigid Kosgei won the women's title,
thanks to her victories in Chicago and London. A record total of 46,983
runners from 150 countries entered the 46th edition of the BMW
BERLIN-MARATHON.
The Men's Race
The BMW BERLIN-MARTHON has a habit of producing spectacular men's races and
this was yet another of the highest quality. No-one would have thought
beforehand that Eliud Kipchoge's world record would come under threat. But
that was what happened. After going through halfway in 61:05 a thrilling
contest developed between three Ethiopians in the second half: Kenenisa
Bekele, Birhanu Legese and Sisay Lemma. Shortly after 30km Bekele dropped
off the pace and a few kilometres later Legese broke away from Lemma. But
then Bekele recovered although he was around 100 metres adrift. First he
overtook Lemma then between 37 and 38 kilometres he went past the leader
Legese. Kenenisa Bekele ran so fast in this part of the race that breaking
the world record came within reach. Ultimately he missed it for the second
time in his career by mere seconds. "I knew that I was in top form although
my preparation was shorter than I would have hoped. I know I can run
faster," said Kenenisa Bekele, who has three Olympic gold medals on the
track in the long distances and is still world record holder for 5 and
10,000m. He added: "I have shown that my career is far from over." Birhanu
Legese in second place was far from disappointed at missing the victory: "I
am very happy with my performance and am also very happy for Kenenisa – he
is a great runner." The best European was the Austrian Peter Herzog who
finished 12th with a personal best of 2:10:57, taking him well inside the
Olympic qualifying time of 2:11:30.
The Women's Race
It wasn't going to be the day for the favourite: Gladys Cherono, who broke
the course record last year with 2:18:11, lost contact with the leading
group before 20km and dropped out around 30km. While the race wasn't as
fast as expected, the lead was shared for a long time by the Ethiopians
Mare Dibaba, Ashete Bekere and Helen Tola as well as the Kenyan Sally
Chepyego. The last five kilometres turned into a duel between Ashete Bekere
and the Olympic bronze medallist Mare Dibaba. The 31-year-old Bekere proved
the stronger and won in a personal best of 2:20:14. "I believe that I can
run under 2:20 on this course," said Bekere who has now won three marathons
in succession after Valencia in 2018 and Rotterdam in April this year. By
far the best performance by a German woman came from Melat Kejeta. She was
bold enough to run in the leading group in the first part of the race and
was then able to continue with a 2:22 pace. She only dropped off that pace
in the last seven kilometres when she slowed appreciably yet still achieved
the fastest marathon debut ever by a German woman. In the all-time list for
German women marathoners she moved into second place behind Irina Mikitenko
(2:19:19). Uta Pippig won the Boston title in 1994 with 2:21:45 but this
time is not valid for record purposes since the Boston course does not
comply with the required regulations. Kejeta should now be confident of
Olympic Marathon selection for Tokyo next year. In contrast, Anna Hahner
had a disappointing run. Now running for the SCC EVENTS PRO TEAM, she
finished in 2:36:34 for 23rd place.
Results Men:
1. Kenensia Bekele ETH 2:01:41
2. Birhanu Legese ETH 2:02:48
3. Sisay Lemma ETH 2:03:36
4. Jonathan Korir KEN 2:06:45
5. Felix Kandie KEN 2:08:07
6. Yohanes Gebregergisch ERI 2:08:26
7. Guojian Dong CHN 2:08:28
8. Bethwel Yegon KEN 2:08:35
9. Kenta Murayama JPN 2:08:56
10. Abel Kipchumba KEN 2:09:39
Results Women:
1. Ashete Bekere ETH 2:20:14
2. Mare Dibaba ETH 2:20:21
3. Sally Chepyego KEN 2:21:06
4. Helen Tola ETH 2:21:36
5. Sara Hall USA 2:22:16
6. Melat Kejeta GER 2:23:57
7. Sally Kipyego USA 2:25:10
8. Haftamnesh Tesfay ETH 2:26:50
9. Martina Strähl SUI 2:31:24
10. Nina Lauwaert BEL 2:31:25
A record number of 46,983 runners from 150 countries entered the 46th
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
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