Double Victory for Ethiopia despite heavy smog at the Beijing Marathon

Girmay BirhanuEthiopia’s Girmay Birhanu and his compatriot Fatuma Sado took the honours at the 34th Beijing International Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, winning respectively in 2:10:42 and 2:30:03 on Sunday (19).

Birhanu, as the fastest man in the field with a best of 2:05:49, fulfilled his role of favourite and won his first race over the classic distance after four second place finishes in his eight marathons to date. Fellow compatriots Abebe Negewo and Debebe Tolossa finished in second and fifth places respectively.

In the women’s race, Ethiopia s 1-2 finish with Fatuma Sado and Meseret Kitata.

More than 30,000 athletes from 55 countries took part in today’s smog-filled race.