About a week after Athlete Joshua Cheptegei breaks a world record, fellow Ugandan Athlete, Juliet Chekwel took the Zurich Marathon by storm. Now its 36th year, the marathon dubbed Zurich Maratón de Sevilla is a World Athletics Gold Label road race that attracts a string of athletes the world over. To beat fellow marathoners present in yesterday’s marathon (23rd-Feb), Chekwel clocked in at an amazing 2:23:13.
Fresh from beating Linet Toroitiche’s record in Humberg last year, the 29-year-old Chekwel had only made her debut in this year’s marathon in Spain and has gone to qualify for the Tokyo-Japan Olympics. Note that the long-distance runner is also the 2015 10.000Meters Rubin Italy record holder.
According to the World Athletics body, both men’s and women’s races had strong depth as seven men finished inside 2:07 and 14 broke the 2:08 barrier, while seven women went sub-2:28, confirming the new course is conducive to fast times. Speaking of the race in detail, they further state that in the final two kilometers, Chekwel was impressive. That she finished strongly to cross the line in 2:23:13, while Ethiopia’s Gada Bontu was second in 2:23:39.
Top 10 (Compiled by World Athletics)
1 Juliet Chekwel (UGA) 2:23:13
2 Gada Bontu (ETH) 2:23:39
3 Sifan Melaku (ETH) 2:23:49
4 Josephine Chepkoech (KEN) 2:24:14
5 Purity Changwony (KEN) 2:24:30
6 Gladys Tejeda (PER) 2:27:07
7 Beji Bekelu (ETH) 2:27:50
8 Melkam Gizaw (ETH) 2:28:05
9 Anja Scherl (GER) 2:28:25
10 Marcela Gómez (ARG) 2:28:58
