Two victories for two surprises: despite their little experience over this distance, Mulugeta Uma among the men and Mestawut Fikir among the women signed an Ethiopian double at the Paris marathon, this Sunday, April 7. All the favorites have been beaten.
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Under overcast but mild weather, the Parisian race started at a brisk pace among the men, where a small group of fifteen competitors quickly emerged with all the favorites. But, this group gradually broke up, from 30 kilometers onwards, under the blows of the Kenyan Titus Kipruto, who cracked the reigning champion of the event, the Ethiopian Abeje Ayana, and the record holder from the Parisian race, the Kenyan Elisha Rotich.
The race took the form of a duel in the last kilometers between Kipruto and the Ethiopian Mulugeta Uma, who has been making constant progress for two years. At 26 years old and in only her fourth marathon, Uma did not tremble, letting go of Kipruto 2.5 km from the finish to explode her personal best by more than 30 seconds, in 2h 5 min 33 sec.
Women’s sprint duel
Among the women, it was a sprint duel between neophytes which determined the victory. While the Ethiopian Rahma Tusa, in the lead since 15 km, seemed to be in the best position, it was her two compatriots Mestawut Fikir and Enat Tirusew who gradually overran all their rivals, over a distance that they had never before dispute. In the sprint, Fikir was the strongest to set a time of 2 h 20 min 45 sec, one minute off the race record. Not bad for a first.
Having struggled for a while, Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot, Olympic 5,000m champion in 2016 but who at 39 had not participated in a marathon since 2019, finally took third place.
More than 54,000 participants
In the disabled sports category, it was the Dutchman Geert Schipper, 52 years old and second last year, who won alone in 1h 34 min 36 sec. Frenchman Julien Casoli, five-time winner of the event but quickly left behind by Schipper, took second place, more than two minutes away, in 1h 37 min 11 sec.
The route, which started from the Champs-Elysées and finished near the Arc de Triomphe after passing through the woods of Vincennes and Boulogne, was very different from that which awaits the runners this summer during the Olympic marathon, which will take place on August 10 for men and August 11 for women. During the Games, the marathon will start at the Hôtel de Ville then head towards Versailles before returning to Paris, on the Esplanade des Invalides. More than 54,000 participants were expected for this 47th edition, including 46% beginners over this distance.
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