Ethiopians sweep podium at Dubai Marathon 2016

Ethiopian elite runner Tesfaye Abera won the 12th Standard Chartered Marathon in 2:04:24 here on Friday nine seconds ahead of his compatriot Berhanu Hayle, Lemi, while Tirfi Tsegaye (also Ethiopia) crossed the finishing line at kilometer 42.195 a time of 2:19:41 winning the women's challenge.

Amid a clear sky and sunny weather in the Gulf Arab emirate, Ethiopian elite runner Tsegaye Mekonnen was third in the men's group, scoring a time at 2:04:46. The runner up in the women's pack was Amane Beriso in 2:20:48, while Meselech Melkamu took home bronze in 02:22:29 (all from Ethiopia).

Both Abera and Tsegaye achieved new personal best times as Abera finished the Mumbai Marathon in January 2015 at a time well above 2:09. Tsegaye's personal best time was so far 2:20:18 which the 31-year old clocked in the women's Berlin Marathon in 2014.

However, both winners failed to set a new course record which stands at 2 hours 4 minutes and 23 seconds for the men's challenge and at 2:19:31 for the ladies (both records were achieved in 2012).

Berhanu appeared to win the race as he led in the last 10 kilometers. But the 2015 Dubai Marathon winner eventually lost the pole position after kilometer 39 in a dramatic final spurt.

The first 10 kilometers from Dubai's iconic seven-star hotel Burj Al Arab hotel down beyond the Jumeirah Beach Hotel saw a tug-of-war between Ethiopian and Kenyan elite runners, with Amos Kipruto from Kenya leading the pack for a few kilometers.

Like in previous years, tens of thousands of sports aficionados, especially from East Africa, joined the track to support their idols, painting Dubai Jumeirah Roads along the ruler-straight and pancake-flat Dubai coastline in a sea of colorful Ethiopian and Kenyan flags, albeit the race started at 6:30am on Friday morning which marks the start of the Islamic weekend.

Both winners took home 200,000 dollars prize money.

"Dubai has done a fantastic job in recent years to expand its Marathon and we are happy to see that it became a truly global event, motivating young people to stay fit and to participate," Lord Coe, the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) told Xinhua on the sidelines of the run.

The winner of Olympic Gold in 1,500 meters in 1980 and 1984 also called for a clean sports with clean athletes to sustain the high reputation of professional sports.

This year's Dubai Marathon was commented live by former Marathon runner Paula Radcliffe who is the incumbent women's world record holder. Englishwoman Radcliffe's finishing time of 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds at the London Marathon on 2003 has never been outperformed since then.

The men's world record stands at 2 hours 2 minutes and 57 seconds which was recorded by Kenyan runner Dennis Kipruto Kimetto in the Berlin Marathon 2014.

The entire running event consisting of the Dubai Marathon run, the 10 kilometer's run and the 4 kilometer fun run gathered over 30,000 professional and hobby participants.

Source: XINHUA