It was a wonderful outing for African athletes at the Valencia marathon over the weekend as Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso and Kenyan debutant Kelvin Kiptum came out victorious.
The African pair ran record-breaking times in one of the most anticipated events in marathon history, following a debut appearance for the 5000m, 10,000m and half-marathon World Record (WR) holder, Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey.
Gidey ran the fastest-ever time for a woman in her marathon debut, finishing second in 2 hours, 16 minutes and 49 seconds after leading for a large part of the race.
However, it was her compatriot Beriso that left the athletics world agape with her new personal best of 2:14:58.
The 31-year-old became the third-fastest woman in marathon history, following in the footsteps of the Kenyan duo of Brigid Kosgei (2:14:04) and Ruth Chepngetich (2:14:18).
On track to surpass Brigid Kosgei’s record from Chicago in 2019, Beriso became exhausted in the final few kilometers, settling for the third-best record ever.
In the men’s event, Kelvin Kiptum, competing in his marathon debut, joined Kenyan legend Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:09) and Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele (2:01:41) as the fastest men in marathon history.
With a winning time of 2 hours, 1 minute, 53 seconds, Kiptum—who turned 23 on Friday—became the third-fastest man in history.
The next major marathon is one of the six World Marathon Majors and would take place in the Japanese city of Tokyo on March 5, 2023.
