Athletics-Ethiopian Gobena and Kenya’s Jepchirchir take Sydney marathon honours

SYDNEY, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Ethiopian Addisu Gobena smashed the course record to win the men’s title before Kenya’s world and former Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir dominated the women’s race at the Sydney Marathon on the penultimate day of the Australian winter on Sunday.

Gobena, second last year, crossed the line at the city’s Opera House in two hours, four minutes and 42 seconds, well clear of the previous record of 2:06:06 that his compatriot Hailemaryam Kiros clocked to win the race last year. Chimdessa Debele of Ethiopia was second in 2:04:46 with Lesotho’s Tebello Ramakongoana third in 2:04:57.

“I am very happy,” said 21-year-old Gobena, who broke clear of the five-strong leading pack in the closing stages to record the fastest-ever marathon time on Australian soil. “Last year I came second, I learnt from my mistake, and I went back home and I worked on my mistake to perform and broke the record today.” 

Jepchirchir blew away the field in the women’s race, finishing more than three minutes clear of second-placed compatriot Irine Cheptai in 2:18:31 to win her fourth marathon major. Cheptai ran a time of 2:22:11 in perfect running conditions, while Ethiopian Shure Demise was third in 2:22:33. 

The 32-year-old Jepchirchir, who won Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021, came up just short of the course record of 2:18:22 that current Olympic champion Sifan Hassan ran to win the Sydney race last year.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Rod Nickel)

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