In
the end it was the day of Ghirmay Ghebreslassie. The young star won Eritrea’s
first World Championships gold medal, taking the men’s marathon title on a day
when more favoured runners from Kenya and Ethiopia were on pared for the title.
 |
| Ghirmay Ghebreslassie |
Ghebreselassie
is just 19 years old. His country is scarcely any older, having gained
independence only in 1993. To date its most famous runner has been Zersenay
Tadese, silver medallist behind Kenenisa Bekele in the 10,000m at the 2009
World Championships.
It
was a very bad day for Kenya runners, lead by Dennis Kimetto, Wilson Kipasang
and Mark Korir could not match the skills and pace set up by Eritrea
runner.Ghirmay finished in 2:12.28 followed by Yemane Tsegay from Ethiopia in
2:13.08 and Solomon Munyo Mutai from Uganda in 2:13.30.
World
record-holder Kimetto was never a factor, anonymous in the large pack until
just past half-way, out of contention soon after that. Kipsang, his predecessor
as world record-holder, stayed relaxed in the pack through 30km, but was
likewise gone once the final racing started.
Kiprotich
finished sixth, one place ahead of Desisa, the two retaining the same order as
in Moscow two years ago, but five places back on their one-two finish then.
 |
| Solomon Mutai |
This
was a bad start for Kenya but let’s waits and sees if the team will recover in
women marathon.
No comments:
Post a Comment