APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso led an Ethiopian one-two in the women’s marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, clocking 2:24:23 at the finish in Heroes’ Square ahead of defending champion Gotytom Gebreslase, who took silver in 2:24:34.
An Ethiopian medal sweep had looked on for most of the race, until the hot conditions took their toll on last year’s London Marathon winner Yalemzerf Yehualaw.
The leading pack of about 20 runners broke away from the rest at the 15km mark with Uganda’s Rebecca Cheptegei in front. The group was whittled down to nine comprising the East Africans and Kenyan-born Israeli Lonah Salpeter, crossing the 30km mark in 1:44:27.
Beriso’s final burst with about 7km to go helped her clinch gold in her first championship race. The defending champion Gotytom took second place 11 seconds later.
Beriso said the team expected the weather condition “to be tough”, eventually affecting their push to claim all the three medals.
Yehualaw was passed by Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi, who claimed bronze in 2:25:17, and Israel’s 2022 world bronze medallist Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, who took fourth place in 2:25:38.
Yehualaw was barely able to make it over the line as she finished fifth in 2:26:13. Her teammates halted their celebrations and ran to support her, before she was taken into the care of medical staff.
MG/as/APA