Off the wire
• Shanghai reports 2nd H7N9 case in January  • Flu toll rises in southern U.S. states  • Sri Lanka condoles on Saudi king's death  • Zambian police warn political parties against early celebration  • Roundup: Nikkei adds 1.05 percent to 3-week high as ECB stimulus program lifts mood  • Chinese Premier returns to Beijing from Switzerland  • Cup factor tests powerhouses as La Liga moves into second half  • 1st Ld-Writethru-China Focus: China's leadership warns of unprecedented national security risks  • Chinese premier congratulates inauguration of COSCO pier expansion project in Greece  • Botswana league champions gear up for CAF Champions League  
You are here: 　 Home

Ethiopian, Kenyans sweep podium at Dubai marathon 2015

Xinhua, January 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lemi Berhanu Hayle won the 11th Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon in 2:05:28 here on Friday ahead of his countryman and top favorite Lelisa Desisa who finished second in 2:05:52, while Aselefech Mergia won the women's marathon with a time of 2:20:02.

Men's marathon bronze went to Deribe Robi Melka from Ethiopia with a time of 2:06:06. Ethiopians won the first 10 places in the men's challenge.

The runner-up of the women's challenge was Kenyan Gladys Cherono Kiprono (2:20:03) who delivered a spectacular neck-on-neck race with Mergia. Her 30-year old rival Lucy Kabuu, from Kenya passed the finishing line as third at a time of 2:20:21 in the women's competition.

The men's champion Hayle told Xinhua after the race that he did not expect to be first, "but my objective was to be among the first four. However, he added, "the race went very well for me and at kilometer 40, I managed to leave the lead group and felt that this was my victory."

Mergia told Xinhua that "at kilometer 35 I became confident that I will be among the first three. At kilometer 40 the race became tight as Kiprono really pushed me and that gave me also the final motivation to be first." She added that she re-started her training at full scale in May 2014 after gave birth to her daughter. "I trained very hard to get back on track and constantly increased my performance. That gave me the confidence that I could win a marathon after I became a mother."

Thousands of running fans and aficionados, especially from East Africa joined the race to support the runners. The most prominent supporter of the Ethiopian elite runners was Marathon legend Haile Gebrselassie who won the Dubai marathon himself three times. "I support everyone from my country. I trained with some of them in the past," he told Xinhua on being a spectator at the marathon.

Both the men's and the women's winners took each 200,000 dollars home. Enditem