BERLIN: Kenenisa Bekele led an Ethiopian sweep of the podium places in the men’s Berlin Marathon, just missing out on a world record with a time of two hours, one minute and 41 seconds in wet but warm conditions on Sunday.

Birhanu Legese was second, one minute and seven seconds behind with Sisay Lemma coming home third with a time of 2:03:36.

For a change the winner did not finish in a world-beating time. Since Khalid Khannouchi set a world record to win the London Marathon in 2:05:38 in 2002, the time has been improved seven times all in Berlin.

But Eliud Kipchoge, who set the current record time of 2:01:39 in the German capital last year, skipped Sunday’s race to focus on his attempt to become the first to break the two-hour mark at a specially organised event in Vienna, Austria in October.

Ashete Bekere, also from Ethiopia, was the fastest of the women, finishing just eight seconds ahead of countrywoman Mare Dibaba in a time of 2:20:14, highlighting the African nation’s dominance in the sport.

Bekere and Dibaba were elbow to elbow as they ran through the Brandenburg Gate with just a few hundred metres to go, before Bekere pulled away with the finish line in sight.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2019