World Athletics Championships 2023: Amane Beriso leads Ethiopian 1-2 in the women's marathon, Morocco's Fatima Gardadi third
Beriso wins the race in 2:24:23 ahead of last year's winner Gotytom Gebreslase. Morocco's national champion Fatima Gardadi takes bronze.
Athletics
Ethiopia's Amane Beriso has won the women's marathon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
She finished in 2 hours 24 minutes 23 seconds, after a tactical battle that culminated in an exciting finish in sweltering conditions on Saturday (26 August).
Beriso’s final burst with about seven kilometres to go helped her clinch her first championship race in only the 11th marathon of her career.
Gotytom Gebreslase, the marathon winner 13 months ago in Eugene, closed in swiftly on her tiring compatriot Yalemzerf Yehualaw to take second place in 2:24:34. Morocco’s national champion Fatima Gardadi ran the race of her life to finish third in 2:25:17.
A delighted Beriso just held on to secure her maiden championship win, powering through the picturesque Heroes’ Square, which marked the start-finish of the marathon in the Hungarian capital.
She crossed the line with her arms raised in celebration, before sinking to the ground in disbelief. The 31-year-old summoned up enough energy to celebrate her victory, holding aloft her flag along with her teammates.
"The plan was to win the three medals today, but thank God we got the first two," Beriso told media after the race.
“I am very happy. I have been dreaming about this for the last couple of days. I wished and prayed for it and finally I achieved the dream today.”
“At the point when I broke away the coach was there by the roadside urging us to surge forward as we saw the rest of the field tiring.”
“It was hot,but the conditions weren't hard for me.”
Gebreslase was relieved that Ethiopia had retained the title she fought so hard to reclaim from their neighbours Kenya.
"The main goal was to bring home the gold. I am proud we (Ethiopians) are keeping the title. I am also proud of Amane Beriso and personally I am really amazed I have won another medal at the world championships."
Budapest on the other hand launched a new star in Gardadi.
“I am so excited for this win, "the Moroccan running her first marathon outside her home country after winning in Rabat last year told Olympics.com.
"I have been training so hard for this. I didn’t expect to get to the podoum I was targeting a top five and Paris 2024 Olympic qualification. I am very satisfied with the bronze medal. This is the beginning for my career."
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - AUGUST 26: (L-R) Silver medalist Gotytom Gebreslase of Team Ethiopia, gold medalist Amane Beriso Shankule of Team Ethiopia and bronze medalist Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi of Team Morocco pose for a photo after Women's Marathon during day eight of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 at Heroes' Square on August 26, 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
A lead pack of about 20 runners, including Ethiopia’s defending champion Gebreslase, who was racing with the golden bib, broke away at around the 15km mark with Uganda’s Rebecca Cheptegei heading the group.
The USA's Keira D'Amato, eighth in Eugene last year, had led the field at the halfway mark with a time of 1:14:29 with the heat and humidity building up.
The group was whittled down to nine runners comprising the East Africans and Kenyan-born Israeli Lonah Salpeter as the pace picked up as they approached the 30km mark in 1:44:27.
But it was the Ethiopian quartet who looked best equipped to handle the fast-warming conditions with Kenya's Wanjiru just holding on.
The field including Gebreslase, Beriso and Yehualaw broke away at the 33km mark with Tsehay Gemechu ending her race earlier than expected, holding her waist as she seemingly struggled to continue. Salpeter found a burst of energy to close in on the pack, as Kenya's Rosemary Wanjiru dropped back further.
Beriso, second behind Kenya's Hellen Obiri at this year's Boston Marathon, managed to hold on to her lead, ensuring back-to-back women's marathon golds for her nation at the Worlds. Salpeter was unable to retain her bronze from Eugene 2022 as she finished fourth in 2:25:38, with Yehualaw fifth in 2:26:13.
Wanjiru, the 2023 Tokyo Marathon winner, was the top-placed Kenyan in Budapest in sixth, with Lindsay Flanagan the best-placed of the three American athletes in ninth.