Tadu Abate and Yeshi Chekole win an Ethiopian double at the Mumbai Marathon
Abate broke clear in the last kilometre to win the Tata Mumbai Marathon in 2:09:55; Chekole's 2:25:13 was the fifth-fastest winning time in the race's history.
Photograph: Tadu Abate at kilometre 25 of the 2023 Berlin Marathon, by IgorCalzone1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsEthiopia won both titles at the 21st Tata Mumbai Marathon on Sunday, the seventh time the country has taken the double in the race. Tadu Abate Deme won the men's race in 2:09:55 and Yeshi Kalayu Chekole the women's in 2:25:13, on a redesigned course for the World Athletics Gold Label event.
The men's race was a three-way fight from the start between Abate, Kenya's Leonard Langat and Eritrea's Merhawi Kesete. Abate and Langat traded the lead until 40 km with Kesete about 50 metres behind. In the final kilometre Abate surged and Langat had no answer. Langat finished second in 2:10:10 and Kesete third in 2:10:22.
About a dozen Ethiopian women started together. Kidsan Alema Gebremedhin led through the middle of the race with Chekole on her shoulder, and Chekole broke away a couple of kilometres from the line. Gebremedhin was second in 2:27:35 and Gojjam Tsegaye Enyew third in 2:28:27. Chekole, 28, has been running marathons since 2019; this was her first win at a major race. Her time is the fifth fastest by a Mumbai winner.
Kartik Karkera was the first Indian man in 2:19:55, a personal best in only his second marathon, ahead of defending Indian champion Anish Thapa in 2:20:08. Sanjivani Jadhav won the Indian women's title in 2:49:02 on her marathon debut, tenth overall.
The international winners took home 50,000 dollars each. The story with the longer shelf life is a 2:19 from a man in his second marathon, run in Mumbai in January.
Sources: Athletics Illustrated; The Bridge.
