Ethiopia’s Abate and Kalayu crowned champions at Mumbai Marathon

Mumbai: Ethiopians Tadu Abate Deme and Yeshi Kalayu Chekole achieved notable wins at the 21st Mumbai Marathon, a World Athletics gold label event, held here on Sunday. The leading Indian finishers were Sanjivani and Kartik.

The top three finishers each took home USD 50,000, USD 25,000, and USD 15,000, respectively.

It was Yeshi Chekole’s first career win in a major marathon, although she had been running this distance since 2019. The 28-year-old neatly executed what she had revealed earlier during a pre-race media interaction, staying relaxed and finishing strongly.

About a dozen Ethiopian women started the race together. Among them were last year’s third-place finisher, Medina Deme Armino, and Shure Demise, the fastest entrant, who clocked a PB of 2:20:59 eleven years ago in Dubai.

Armino wanted to triumph this time in the absence of the top two from last year — Joyce Chepkemoi and Shitaye Eshete. Drawing on her knowledge of the Mumbai roads from her previous sojourn, Armino was in command during the first half of the race. However, she faded and began to lag behind the leader, Kidsan Alema, thereafter.

Yeshi stayed with Kidsan and two other compatriots, Gojjam Tesgaye and Birke Debele, until the runners covered three-fourths of the distance. She then broke away from the group a few kilometres later and ran solo for the rest of the race. Ultimately, she won with a time of 2:25:13, the fifth-fastest among Mumbai winners to date.

“I am very happy to be the Champion today. I came here expecting to break the course record, but I was a little shaky in the weather. However, I am very happy with the result. I felt strong and positive throughout, especially on both the uphill and downhill sections”, Yeshi said after the race.

Kidsan shared that she was encouraged by the spectators’ support throughout the course. “In the middle of the race, my body started to feel a bit warm and I dropped slightly behind the leading group”, she further added.

In the men’s elite marathon, Kenyan Leonard Kiprotich Langat was in a tight race with last year’s runner-up Merhawi Kesete from Eritrea and Tadu Abate from Ethiopia right from the beginning. Uganda’s 2023 World Marathon Champion Victor Kiplangat and Ethiopian Gada Gemsisa stayed close behind until reaching the halfway point.

Both Abate and Langat traded the lead until reaching 40 km, with Kesete about 50 metres behind. Abate sped up in the final kilometre, while Langat had difficulty closing the gap. The Ethiopian finished first in 2:09:55, with Langat crossing 15 seconds later as the runner-up. Kesete finished third in 2:10:22. IANS

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