ATHLETICS - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Jepchirchir crushes women’s-only world record in winning London Marathon

REIGNING Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir crushed the women's-only world record in winning the 44th London Marathon, while Kenyan compatriot Alexander Mutiso Munyao pulled away from Ethiopian distance great Kenenisa Bekele to win the men's race. The 30-year-old Jepchirchir crossed the finish line in front of Buckingham Palace in two hours 16 minutes 16 seconds to break Mary Keitany's mark of 2:17:01 set in a women-only race at the 2017 London event. Jepchirchir pulled away from a group of four in a sprint finish before collapsing to her knees in tears having beaten the fastest field of women ever assembled. "I…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

China’s federation promises action after half marathon debacle

ATHLETICS

THE Chinese Athletics Association (CAA) has vowed to strengthen the supervision of its road-running events after a video of Sunday's Beijing half-marathon showed three runners appearing to slow down to allow China's He Jie to overtake them and win. He won in a time of 1:03:44, a second ahead of Ethiopian Dejene Hailu Bikila and Kenyans Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat, who all tied for second place. Videos shared online showed the three runners waving He, who was slightly behind them, in front and gesturing towards the finish line. All four had run together for the entire race of just over 13…

Apr

2024

By HELEN REID and VINCENT DAHERON

Kenya’s Kipchoge eyes historic Olympic marathon hat-trick

ATHLETICS

KENYA'S Eliud Kipchoge expects to make history with his third consecutive Olympic marathon gold medal at this year's Games in Paris, he told Reuters in an interview on Thursday, adding that there were no thoughts about retirement yet. Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, East Germany's Waldemar Cierpinski and Kipchoge are the only athletes to have won two Olympic gold medals in the marathon when they retained their titles. "My huge expectation actually is to win the Olympics for the third time," said Kipchoge, who turns 40 in November and finished 10th at last month's Tokyo Marathon. That result and his relatively vintage…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Ethopia’s double delight at Paris marathon

ATHLETICS

MULUGETA Uma and Mestawut Fikir won the Paris Marathon men's and women's races to give Ethiopia a double in the event for the first time in five years. On a course that was different from the Olympic event in August, Uma won with a time of 2:05:33, beating Kenyans Titus Kipruto and Elisha Rotich. Kipruto finished 15 seconds behind Uma while Rotich was more than a minute behind. Rotich was the pre-race favourite going into the event having set the course record in 2021. In the women's race, Fikir finished with a time of 2:20:45 in her first marathon, pipping…

Apr

2024

By BIRD NEWSROOM

Africans are triumphing in trail running; here are the 2023 African Trail Runners of the Year

ATHLETICS

FROM distance running and cross-country to short races, there is a long list of African athletes who have staged record-breaking performances in running. Today, the world’s fastest sprinters have their origins in West Africa, while the world’s greatest distance athletes live at high altitudes in the Great Rift Valley to the east of the continent. The continent is now producing some of the biggest names on the world stage in trail and mountain running—running on paths that are not surfaced, paved, sealed or asphalt roads. It involves running on rugged terrain. In particular, African athletes from the north and east…

Apr

2024

By STEPHEN GRANGER, SPNA

Africans showcase the continent’s athletic supremacy at the World Cross-Country Championships

ATHLETICS

IF you want to get a sense of the level to which African runners dominate distance running right now, look no further than the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, held this year in Belgrade, Serbia. From Kenya to South Africa, Uganda to Ethiopia, different cross-country athletes from the continent recorded remarkable performances. Formerly known as the International Cross Country Championships, the annual event is the most important competition in international cross-country running. This year’s edition was held in Belgrade on March 30. East African athletes continued their dominance in international cross-country, claiming all team and individual medals, bar one. Apart…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Kipruto, Kebede win Tokyo Marathon in course record times

ATHLETICS

KENYAN Benson Kipruto won the men's Tokyo Marathon in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds on Sunday, breaking former world record holder Eliud Kipchoge's course mark in perfect racing conditions on the streets of the Japanese capital. Ethiopia's Sutume Asefa Kebede won the women's race ahead of Kenya's defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru in 2:15:55, also bettering the best previous women's time over the course from Shinjuku to the Imperial Palace. Kipruto pulled clear of Timothy Kiplagat over the last few kilometres and finished 39 seconds ahead of his compatriot to add the Tokyo title to those he won in…

Feb

2024

By WYCLIFFE W. NJORORAI SIMIYU

Kelvin Kiptum: the Kenyan runner who redefined what it takes to win marathons

ATHLETICS

KENYAN athletics has lost Kelvin Kiptum, the marathon world record holder who was destined to be the first person to run the race in under two hours. The runner, aged only 24, died on 10 February in a car accident that also claimed his coach Gervais Hakizimana, 37, from Rwanda. WYCLIFFE W. NJORORAI SIMIYU, Professor and Chair of Kinesiology and Health Science, Stephen F. Austin State University The accident occurred near one of the high-altitude athletics training centres that dot the country’s north Rift Valley. The region northwest of Nairobi is home to many Kenyan distance runners, among them world-famous…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Kenya’s Sarah Chepchirchir gets 8-year ban for second doping violation

ATHLETICS

KENYA'S Sarah Chepchirchir has been hit with an eight-year ban after the former Tokyo Marathon winner was found to have violated anti-doping regulations for a second time, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said in a statement. Chepchirchir had returned an adverse analytical finding for testosterone, the AIU said. The sample was collected at the Bangsaen42 Chonburi Marathon in Thailand in November. The 39-year-old was previously banned for four years in 2019, backdated to April 11, 2018, because of abnormalities in her athlete blood passport. The latest ban will be backdated to December 22, 2023, and Chepchirchir's competition results from November…

Feb

2024

By THOMAS MUKOYA and HUMPHREY MALALO

Marathon world record holder Kiptum dies in road accident

ATHLETICS

KENYA'S marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach were killed in a traffic accident in the Rift Valley, cutting short the career of the only man to have run the endurance classic in less than two hours and one minute. The 24-year-old set the world record, tab at the Chicago Marathon in October with a time of two hours and 35 seconds to surpass the mark of 2:01:09 run by compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin in 2022. Kiptum, who clocked three of the seven fastest marathon times in history, had been hoping to become the first man to run the…