Paris marathon winner in the lads’s class Ethiopia’s Abeje Ayana, left, and in the ladies’s class Kenya’s Helah Kiprop react on the rostrum, Sunday, April 2, 2023 in Paris.
| Photo Credit: AP
Ethiopia’s Abeje Ayana upset favourite Guye Adola to win the Paris Marathon on Sunday with Kenya’s Helah Kiprop claiming the ladies’s race.
The 20-year-old Ayana pulled away from Adola, 32, in the closing 5 kilometres to mark his arrival on the worldwide stage in a time of two hours, seven minutes and 15 seconds.
Adola, who gained the Berlin Marathon in 2021, crossed the road 20 seconds behind his compatriot, with Kenya’s Josphat Boit 5 seconds additional again in third.
“I came here mainly as part of my preparation for the World Athletics Championships (in August),” Ayana stated after his first try on the distance.
“I had to complete 42 kilometres, I’m happy that I did it. Several runners had to stop but I made it and I’m not even very tired either,” he added.
The race was run in moist and windy climate stopping any try on Elisha Rotich’s course report of 2hr 04min 21sec.
In the ladies’s race Kiprop pipped Ethiopian duo Atalel Anmut and Fikrte Wereta in a dash for the road in 2hr 23min 19sec.
The Kenyan gave the impression to be struggling in a number one group of 5 with three kilometres to go, however the winner of the Tokyo Marathon in 2016 dug deep to launch a stirring late assault.
Anmut completed in the identical time with Wereta three seconds adrift.
The 42.195 km-route kicked off on the French capital’s iconic Champs Elysees earlier than heading by the Bois de Vincennes park, alongside the Seine river, looping across the Bois de Boulogne to finish close to the Arc de Triomphe.
The route is completely different to that of the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon subsequent 12 months, which is able to begin at Paris’ historic Hotel de Ville, or city corridor, earlier than heading in direction of Versailles and returning to the central Esplanade des Invalides.