FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on 26 September:
Kenenisa Bekele and Hiwot Gebrekidan lead powerful Ethiopian Challenge
in Berlin
The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON will get underway on Sunday, September 26 with high
quality elite fields headed by the Ethiopian superstar Kenenisa Bekele on
his fourth appearance in Germany's biggest and most spectacular marathon,
while his compatriot Hiwot Gebrekidan will run in Berlin's women's field
for the first time. Gebrekidan is currently the fastest female marathon
runner in the world this year. The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is part of the
Abbott World Marathon Majors and a Platinum Label Road Race, awarded by
World Athletics, the international governing body of athletics.
Kenenisa Bekele is 39 now and will be running the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON for
the fourth time. He won the race in 2016 but dropped out the next year and
returned in 2019 to triumph once again. In both victories the Ethiopian
missed the then world record by a matter of seconds.
In terms of his achievements on the track and cross country, Kenenisa
Bekele is the greatest long distance runner of all time. The multiple world
record holder won the 5,000m at the 2008 Olympic Games as well as at the
2009 World Championships, took the 10,000m title at the Olympics in 2004
and 2008 as well as at the World Championships in 2003, 2005, 2007 and
2009. In addition, he has won eleven gold medals at the World Cross Country
Championships.
At the same time, Kenenisa Bekele's marathon career has been by no means a
smooth one. He has failed to finish three of his six races at the classic
distance, including an attempt on the world record in Dubai in 2017 and
Berlin later in the same year.
Yet on two occasions Kenenisa Bekele was able to convert his enormous
potential to the marathon though there was still an element of
disappointment attached, since he missed breaking the world record by a
handful of seconds each time. In 2016 in Berlin he went within six seconds
of the then global best, improving his own best to 2:03:03. Two years ago
Bekele won again, this time running 2:01:41, two seconds outside the world
record which his Kenyan rival Eliud Kipchoge had improved to 2:01:39 in the
meantime. This achievement in 2019 means the Ethiopian is the second
fastest marathon runner in history. It may well be that the BMW
BERLIN-MARATHON on September 26 is his last chance to break the world
record at the distance. "I'm looking forward to the race in the BMW
BERLIN-MARATHON and all my training has been with this in mind. It's gone
well. I am doing everything to make sure my preparation is perfect," said
Kenenisa Bekele.
Ethiopia's superstar will face two strong compatriots among his rivals.
Guye Adola made an outstanding marathon debut in 2017 beside the River
Spree with second place in 2:03:46. His time was record for a marathon
debutant and Adola even put the eventual winner, Eliud Kipchoge, under
pressure, leading the great Kenyan until shortly before 40 kilometres.
Another Ethiopian who surprised many on his marathon debut is Olika Adugna.
He will be running in Berlin on September 26 with a best of 2:06:15 from
winning debut in Dubai in 2020.
The women's field includes the fastest marathoner in the world this year,
Ethiopia's Hiwot Gebrekidan, who won the Milan Marathon in a personal best
of 2:19:35 in April. Purity Rionoripo of Kenya (pb 2:20:39) and the
Ethiopian Shure Demise (pb 2:20:59) should also be relied upon to offer
strong challenges.
More information is available online at: www.berlin-marathon.com
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