In the middle of the night: Kenyan woman wins marathon gold

The 25-year-old completed the first medal decision of this World Cup early on Saturday morning after 2:32:43 hours and clearly beat defending champion Rose Chelimo (Bahrain/2:33:46). The 39-year-old Helalia Johannes from Namibia surprisingly took bronze (2:34:15); a German runner was not at the start.

Chepngetich, the third-fastest marathon runner in history with a time of 2:17:08 hours in Dubai in January, triumphed in a brutal heat battle - 23 of the 68 runners who started had to give up - with the worst winning time in World Cup history. She stayed more than two minutes above the previous mark of her compatriot Catherine Ndereba, who won the previously slowest World Championship marathon in 2007 in Osaka, which was also very hot, in 2:30:37 minutes.

“I prayed that I could finish the race” Second place winner Rose Chelimo “The race was hard, but I didn’t give up,” said Chepgnetich after her triumph in the first night marathon in World Cup history: “I couldn’t get it out of my head that I could be the winner.” And Chelimo said: “It was very hot and at some point the thought of stopping occurred to me. But I kept running and prayed that I could finish the race.”

Fourth in Doha was 39-year-old Edna Kiplagat (2:35:36), who had won the last Kenyan World Marathon titles in 2011 and 2013. Ethiopia experienced a nasty defeat, with its three co-favorites Ruti Aga, Roza Dereje and Shure Demise giving up before half the distance. Rio Olympic champion Jemima Sumgong (Kenya) did not take part; she is banned until 2027 after a doping offense. Italy's hopeful transported away in a wheelchair Qatar's ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani gave the starting signal a few seconds before midnight in the presence of IOC President Thomas Bach. Even at this time there were extremely harsh conditions on the Corniche, Doha's waterfront promenade, with temperatures of 32,7 degrees and 73,3 percent.

Nevertheless, the Kenyans initially set a very high pace and the field quickly spread out. The Italian Sara Dossena, sixth at the European Championships in Berlin 2018, had to give up after a good quarter of the distance and was driven off the track in a wheelchair. Afterwards, runners dropped out in random succession. "It was really scary, intimidating and discouraging," said Canada's Lyndsay Tessier, who finished ninth. "I'm just really grateful that I finished on my feet."

Well before the half marathon mark, the race became significantly slower and more tactical, with Chepngetich making the decisive attack seven kilometers from the finish.

Due to the heat in Qatar with daytime temperatures exceeding 40 degrees, the road competitions were moved to the night. On Saturday, the walkers will not be sent off on their 50 km journey until 23.30:22.30 p.m. local time (3.15:4.00 p.m. CEST), and they will reach the finish between 5:6 a.m. and XNUMX:XNUMX a.m. in the morning. The men's marathon will take place on the night of October XNUMXth to XNUMXth.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

In the middle of the night: Kenyan woman wins marathon gold

The Kenyan favorite Ruth Chepngetich won gold in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Doha and took the first title at the competitions in Qatar. She crossed the finish line at 2.32:XNUMX a.m. local time.

Suggestions