Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase survived a two-way battle with Kenyan Judith Korir for the women’s marathon title in world championship time on Monday.
Gebreslase covered about two kilometers to go and never gave Korir a chance to get down to the final stretch to cross the finish line in two hours, 18 minutes and 11 seconds, surpassing Briton Paula Radcliffe’s 2:20:57 mark earlier in the day. 2005.
“I am very happy and I want to give all the glory to God,” said Gebreslase, who won his first major title in Berlin last year.
“The Kenyan runner asked me to pass her but I remained patient. Reaching 40km, I felt strong and decided to hit the road”.
This is Ethiopia’s second marathon win in Eugene, Oregon after Tamirat Tola took the men’s title in another championship record 2:05:36.
Gebreslase said: “Tola’s victory yesterday motivated me a lot today.
Korir, who created the fastest time of her career, said she was disappointed that Gebreslase didn’t want to catch up with her after they crossed the 27km mark but was still satisfied with her performance.
“Ethiopian athletes run very fast. It wasn’t easy to run with them, but I tried my best,” she said.
The field got a quick start at 6:15 a.m. local time, benefiting from sunny but pristine conditions, with temperatures hovering above 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10C).
Israel’s Lonah Salpeter seized the opportunity to take third place on the podium after Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh fell out of the top group and dropped out with less than 10 km.
Salpeter told reporters that she was excited about the bronze after the preparation could not have been more ideal.
“I remained patient after the women pushed the race early, no matter how the race was going,” she said.
“Today, it was a really great achievement. The marathon starts at 30km.”
Kenyan Ruth Chepngeich, who won three years ago, dropped out of the 18km race due to stomach problems.
