Ethiopia’s Roza Dereje defends her Shanghai International Marathon title
Ethiopia’s Roza Dereje defended her crown at the 18th edition of the Shanghai International Marathon that was held on Sunday (13) in Shanghai, China.
It is Dereje’s second appearance in Shanghai, having won last year in a big PB of 2:26:18. She trimmed her PB to 2:25:17 earlier this year when placing third in Vienna, but a 1:07:23 half marathon PB in Copenhagen in September suggested a further improvement on her marathon best was likely.
Kenya’s Lydia Cheromei, who won the 1991 world junior cross-country title and the 2004 world half-marathon silver medal, clocked a world age-40 best of 2:23:31 to take second place. It was her fastest time since 2012, the year in which she set her PB of 2:21:30.
Ethiopia’s Hirut Tibebu trailed four seconds behind Cheromei to finish third in 2:23:35, beating her PB by 29 seconds. It is the 22-year-old’s third PB this year following her 2:25:12 run in Dubai and 2:24:04 finish in Prague.
Ethiopia’s Gulume Chala and Margaret AGai from Kenya came in fourth and fifth place with 2:23.59 and 2:25.29 respectively.
In the men’s race South Africa’s Stephen Mokoka made history by becoming the first four-time winner in Shanghai following his victories in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
LEADING RESULTS
WOMEN
- Roza Bekele (Ethiopia) 2:22.43
- Lydia Cheromei (Kenya) 2:23.31
- Hirut Damte (Ethiopia) 2:23.35
- Gulume Chala (Ethiopia) 2:23.59
- Margaret Agai (KEN) 2:25.29
Source: IAAF.org
