Ethiopians dominated the Berlin Marathon as Milkesa Mengesha won the men’s race and Tigist Ketema claimed victory in the women’s event.
Mengesha, 24, ran a personal best time of 2hr 3min 17sec to finish ahead of Kenya’s Cybrian Kotut (2:03:22) and fellow Ethiopian Haymanot Alew.
The last kilometre was an engaging battle between Mengesha and Kotut, but the former stepped on the gas in the final stretch and surged over the finish line five seconds ahead.
“I had been training very hard for this course. I knew it is very flat and I can run very fast times,” Mengesha said, speaking with the help of a translator.
“But I was at the London Marathon prior to that and I had to stop after 38km because I had some issues. I was very worried about that.”
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The pre-race favourite on Sunday was Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele, with the five-time winner Eliud Kipchoge not competing. Takele finished seventh.
The women’s podium was all-Ethiopian. Ketema’s time of 2:16:42 meant she crossed the finish line more than two minutes ahead of Mestawut Fikir and Bosena Mulatie.
Ketema opened up a sizeable lead in the first half of the run and clinched victory in the third-fastest time run in the event.
“I’m very grateful to be in Berlin. I am very happy and with the help of God I was able to win this race,” the 26-year-old Ketema said.
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Ketema’s time was five minutes slower than Tigst Assefa’s winning effort of 2:11:53 last year, which is the women’s marathon world record.
A number of big names were missing in Berlin, with the race just over a month after the end of the Paris Olympics.