Ethiopian athlete Yalemzerf Yehualaw on Sunday stunned the world, winning the TCS London Marathon Elite women’s race.
With six miles left, Yalemzerf Yehualaw’s race seemed to have been ruined after the Ethiopian was left sprawled on the road after stumbling over a speed bump.
Her time was the fastest ever at the London marathon.
The 23rd year old won a personal best time of 2:17:25 beating the defending champion Joycline Jepkosgei (Kenya) to second (2:28:07) with her Ethiopian compatriot, Mergetu Alemu, rounding off the top three in 2:18:32.
She recorded the third fastest time ever in the women’s race, the fastest debut time in history and an Ethiopian record.
Yehualaw, who had only ran her first competitive marathon in April, made her break with four miles to go and clocked a remarkable 4:43 mile split on mile 24.
2021 champion Joyciline Jepkosgei finished 41 seconds back in second, while Ethiopia’s Alemu Megertu was third.
MG/as/APA