Nairobi — The 2012 Boston Marathon champion Sharon Cherop rolled back the golden years when she won the women’s race at the Milano Marathon on Sunday.
The 39-year-old timed 2:26:13 in first place, ahead of Ethiopian Sintayehu Dessi (2:26:30) and fellow Kenyan, Emily Kipchumba (2:28:08), in second and third respectively.
After shaking off other athletes in the leading pack, Cherop was locked in a neck-to-neck battle with Dessi for first place with the Ethiopian seemingly holding onto the lead with 2km to go.
However, the 2011 World marathon bronze medalist soon overtook her Ethiopian rival and surged ahead, running in tandem with the pacemaker.
With the pacemaker dropping out, 500m to the finish line, Cherop took firm control of the race and it was only a case of if she would go better than her personal best of 2:22:28 – set almost a decade ago in Berlin.
The win is a huge moment of redemption for the veteran whose last race yielded a disappointing ninth place finish at the Mumbai Marathon in January this year.
In the men’s race, Ugandan Andrew Kwemoi ran a dominant race to emerge victorious in 2:07:14.
Kenyan Timothy Kattam came second in 2:07:53 as Rwandan John Hakizimana clocked 2:08:18 to finish third in what was an East African affair.
Elsewhere, in South Korea, Stanley Bett and Janet Ruguru finished second and third in the men and women’s race respectively at the Daegu International Marathon.
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Bett clocked 2:07:00 to finish behind winner, Ethiopian Milkesa Mangesha (2:06:49) as Eritrea’s Berhane Tsegay came third in 2:07:21.
Ruguru timed 2:28:13 in third, in a race won by Ethiopian Ayantu Abera (2:25:44) who finished ahead of fellow countrywoman, Media Deme (2:27:27).
In Paris, the 2015 World marathon silver medalist Helah Kiprop clocked 2:23:19 to win the women’s race at the Paris Marathon, ahead of the Ethiopian pair of Atalel Amnut (2:23:19) and Fikrte Wereta (2:23:22) in second and third respectively.
This was the second podium finish for the 37-year-old in 2023 after she clocked 1:10:30 to finish second at the Atlanta Half Marathon in February this year.
In the men’s competition, Kenya’s Josephat Boit finished third, timing 2:07:40 as Ethiopian Abeye Abana led his compatriot Guye Adola to the top two places.
Abana clocked 2:07:15 as his 2021 Berlin Marathon counterpart timed 2:07:35 in second.
