Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola won Sunday the men’s marathon gold at the 18th World Athletics Championships currently held in Eugene, Oregon, USA, after completely dominating the race.
The Ethiopian runner alone took the lead over the long distance, setting a record in the championship by finishing the distance in two hours, 5.37 minutes, and the 2017 World Championship Silver owner took advantage of the cold weather to move away from the rest of his rivals to be 46 seconds ahead of the nearest of them, after passing 39 kilometers, and continued his leadership to the finish line.
Tola’s competitor Musinet Geremew was one minute behind Tula, winning his second silver in a row, while the Belgian, born in Somalia, Bashir Abdi came third to take bronze and equaled what he did at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. (QNA).
American favorite and former University of Oregon runner Galen Rupp was next to slip back, much to the disappointment of the fans lining up the three-lap course, which was also livened up by large numbers on bikes accompanying the runners. Tola, 30, made what turned out to be the decisive move soon after, escaping solo to almost immediately open a 12-second gap at 35km and splintering the pack on the back of a 2.44 minute kilometer. From then on, looking relaxed throughout, he steadily built the lead as the chasing group was reduced to three.
