Ethiopia’s defending champion Tsehay Gemechu retained her Airtel Delhi Half Marathon title on Sunday by smashing the course record she had set 12 months ago in the national capital when she ran 66:00.
21-years old, Gemechu took 50 seconds less then the time she ran in 2018 to win the $27,000 first prize at the IAAF Gold Label road race and also pocketed a course record bonus of $10,000.
The women’s race came down to a thrilling head-to-head duel over the final five kilometres between the defending champion and her compatriot Yelamzerf Yehualaw and when it briefly looked like African Games half marathon champion Yehualaw is going to cause an upset with the finish line approaching, Gemechu dug deep and managed to claw her way past her rival to also notch up a personal best while becoming just the second woman to defend here.
“I was tired after Doha (where she finished fourth in the world championships 5000m two weeks ago) but I wanted to come here and fight for the course record. I knew I was mentally strong,” reflected Gemechu.
Yehualaw, even younger than the winner having just turned 20 in August, took more than three minutes off her previous best for the distance when finishing just one second behind Gemechu in 66:01.
It was yet another double for Ethiopian racers as the men's winner Andamlak Belihu also retained his title.
Belihu finished just under seven minutes earlier after improving his personal best by eight seconds from his winning time of 12 months ago, stopping the clock on this occasion at 59:10.
However, in sharp contrast to Gemechu, he had the frustration of once again just missing out on beating the men's course record of 59:06, held since 2014 by yet another Ethiopian Guye Adola.
“At about 18km I started to suffer some back pain, that possibly cost me the course record. I’m a bit disappointed that I missed out on the course record again but I got a personal best so I cannot complain too much,” commented Belihu, who immediately declared his long-term intention to come back to Delhi in 2020 with the aim of attacking the course record again and trying to become the first man or woman to win a hat-trick of ADHM title.
“I have been mainly focusing on the track season in my training until recently but I always knew I was going to come here and so I had that in mind. I am always very pleased to come to Indian races and especially Delhi as it was here that I had my first successes, and this changed my life.
“This race has put the frustration of finishing fifth at the world championships (in the 10,000m in Doha two weeks ago) behind me,” he added.
Meanwhile, 20-years old Berihu posted one of the fastest half marathon debuts ever when he came home second in 59:17 while Kandie hung on for third in 59:33.
As for the domestic stalwarts, Srinu Bugatha continues addded another laurel in his kitty as he backed up his Tata Mumbai half marathon win with a victory here with a timing of 1:04:33. Suresh Patel clinched Sliver after finishing the race in 1:04:57 and half marathon debutant Harshad Mhatre (1:05:12) won the Bronze medal in the Indian elite men's category.
“I tried very hard to beat my best timing, but unfortunately I couldn't. Because I broke away from the rest of the runners and took a lead early on in the race, I couldn’t record a better timing. I didn’t have anyone who could pace me throughout the race,” said Srinu Bugatha.
In the Indian elite women’s category, Loganathan Suriya, the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon course record holder, emerged first (1:12:49), followed by Parul Chaudhary (1:13:55) and Chinta Yadav (1:15:28).