Bekele wins Berlin race in near record time; Kipsang finishes second

 

Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele [PHOTO: COURTESY]

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele emerged victorious in a memorable battle with Wilson Kipsang to win the Berlin Marathon yesterday.

His winning time of 2:03:03 was an Ethiopian record and the second fastest time in history on a record-eligible course.

The battle brought to the fore a cocktail of exciting tales between Kipsang and Bekele.

The duo is managed by Dutch agents Jos Hermens of Global Sports Communications (Bekele) and Gerard Van de Veen of Volare Sports (Kipsang).

Kipsang and Bekele are accustomed to hilly terrains as they were born and bred within the Great Rift Valley.

Kipsang comes from Muskut Village in Kerio Valley in Elgeyo Marakwet County while Bekele was born in Bekoji Village in Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley, some 300km from Addis Ababa.

But the fight for Berlin honours re-ignited the fierce rivalry between leading sportswear apparels –Nike and Adidas.

Bekele is sponsored by Nike while Kipsang wears Adidas brands.

Bekele took command of the race inside the final kilometre, surging away from former world record holder Kipsang to take his first victory in Berlin, smashing Haile Gebrselassie’s Ethiopian record of 2:03:59 in the process.

The pace was blistering from the outset, with a group of eight going through halfway in 1:01:11. At the 30km mark, reached in 1:26:26, Kipsang was the one pushing things along at the front, joined by compatriot Alfers Lagat. However, Bekele always remained in touch, despite dropping back on several occasions, and with 5km remaining, he trailed Kipsang by just five seconds.

Bekele slowly closed the gap, running alongside Kipsang at 40km before changing gears with just over a kilometre to run, a move Kipsang couldn’t match. The 34-year-old Ethiopian powered up the home straight in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate but fell just short in his bid to break Dennis Kimetto’s world record of 2:02:57.

“I wanted to run my personal best here,” said Bekele. “The time was fantastic but I was disappointed I missed the world record.”

Kipsang came home second in 2:03:13, taking 10 seconds off his personal best.

“It was a very nice race and my feeling was good,” he said. “I was hoping we could run a world record but to run a personal best is good. We ran a good race together. Even though [Bekele] just missed it, he will run it another day.”

The women’s race saw Ethiopia’s Aberu Kebede take victory in commanding fashion, running 2:20:45 to come home more than three minutes clear of compatriot Birhane Dibaba.

Kebede, Dibaba and fellow Ethiopian Ruti Aga ran together through 15km in 49:40, but Kebede began to press on alone before halfway, which she reached in 1:09:27. From there, she extended her advantage all the way to the finish, coming up just 15 seconds shy of her personal best of 2:20:30.