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No-pressure' Mengesha, Ketema in Ethiopian double
The Straits Times
|September 30, 2024
Ethiopian duo Milkesa Mengesha and Tigist Ketema won the men's and women's races respectively in the 50th edition of the Berlin Marathon on Sept 29.
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Mengesha finished just five seconds ahead of Kenyan Cybrian Kotut in 2hr 03min 17sec, with both recording personal bests. Haymanot Alew of Ethiopia was third in 2:03:31.
The times were outside the late Kelvin Kiptum's world record of 2:00:35 and five-time Berlin winner Eliud Kipchoge's course record of 2:01:09, set in 2022.
"It was wonderful," said Mengesha, 24. "I am totally happy.
"It was good that I wasn't among the favourites, because I had no pressure at all. I was totally relaxed and achieved exactly what I wanted in the end.
"I'm not the most experienced runner and I've had bad experiences, but it was perfectly organised and the spectators were wonderful too.
"It was hard and but I enjoyed it I prepared for it extremely well." The pre-race favourite was Ethiopia's Tadese Takele. But he finished only in seventh.
This story is from the September 30, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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