Ethiopians Amedework Walelegn and Yalemzerf Yehualaw smashed event records to win the men’s and women’s titles respectively in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon held in a bio-secure environment amid the Covid-19 pandemic, here on Sunday.
The results in this World Athletics Gold Label road race were unprecedented with both the elite race winners re-writing the event records.
Both Walelegn (58.53 seconds) and Yehualaw pocketed $27,000 first prize and an additional $10,000 as event record bonus.
In fact, Yehualaw ran the second fastest women’s half marathon ever. Her timing of 1:04:46 was just a quarter of a second outside the world record time (1:04:31) of compatriot Ababel Yeshaneh, who finished third.
For India, Tokyo Olympics-bound Avinash Sable smashed the national record with a time of 1:00:30.
The 26-year-old Sable, from Maharashtra, was 10th overall. He pocketed Rs 3.5 lakh first prize and an additional Rs 1 lakh for setting event record among Indians.
According to the Athletics Federation of India’s official records, the earlier national half marathon record stands at 1:03:46 in the name of Kalidas Hirave of Maharashtra.
In the men's elite race, last year’s Silver medallist Walelegn beat compatriot and defending champion Andamlak Belihu in a nail-biting finish in event record time of 58.53 seconds. Walelegn had won a Bronze at the World Half Marathon Championships last month.
Belihu, who had won the title in 2018 and 2019, settled for the Silver with a time of 58.54sec in the 21.09km distance. Uganda’s Stephen Kissa was third in 58.56.
The 21-year-old Walelegn bettered the earlier ADHM record of 59:06, which was in the name of compatriot Guye Adola, set in 2014.
Avinash Sable, who qualified for Tokyo Olympics in 3000m steeplechase, emerged winner among Indian elite runners, clocking 1:00.30. This was the first time an Indian ran below 61 minutes in the ADHM.
Srinu Bugatha, who won the race last year, was second with a time of 1:04:16 while Durga Bahadur Budha was third, clocking 1:04:19.
In the star-studded women’s elite race, Yehualaw surged ahead after the halfway mark to win in record time, bettering the earlier mark of 1:06:00 in the name of compatriot and defending champion Tsehay Gemechu, who could not finish on podium this time.
Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich was second in 1:05:06 while another Ethiopian and world half marathon record-holder Ababel Yeshaneh was third in 1:05:21.
Yehualaw had finished second in last year’s ADHM and third in the World Half Marathon last month.
Among Indians, Parul Chaudhary, who had finished second last year, took the Gold in 1:12:18 while Sanjivani Jadhav (1:13:00) and Komal Jagadale (1:14:04) were second and third respectively.