Stella Chesang wins Osaka in 2:19:31, the first Ugandan to take a Platinum Label marathon
Chesang pulled away from Bedatu Hirpa and Workenesh Edesa in the last 2 km in Osaka; Mikuni Yada ran 2:19:57, the fastest marathon debut by a Japanese woman.
Photograph: Stella Chesang at the 2018 African Championships, by Bob Ramsak, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsStella Chesang won the Osaka Women's Marathon on Sunday in 2:19:31, the fastest time in the world so far this year and the first win by a Ugandan woman at a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon. Bedatu Hirpa of Ethiopia was second in 2:19:54, defending champion Workenesh Edesa third in 2:19:56, and Japan's Mikuni Yada fourth in 2:19:57 in her first marathon.
The leaders went through halfway in 1:10:13. Nanaka Izawa lost touch before 15 km and Mizuki Matsuda before 17 km. By 25 km it was four: Yada, Edesa, Chesang and Hirpa. The pacemakers left at 30 km and Yada, a debutante, did much of the work after that. The group held until about 38 km. Chesang was at the front by 40 km, Yada briefly got past the two Ethiopians, and then Chesang went alone over the last two kilometres.
Chesang, 29, won the Commonwealth 10,000 m title in 2018 and was twelfth in the marathon at last year's World Championships. Her Ugandan record is 2:18:26 from Valencia in 2024. Edesa, who ran 2:17:55 in Hamburg last April, had been the favourite.
Yada's 2:19:57 is the fastest marathon debut by a Japanese woman and moved her to sixth on Japan's all-time list. Mao Uesugi was fifth in 2:23:07.
Four women inside 2:20 and the winner decided in the last 2 km. Osaka in January keeps giving the women's marathon its best early-season race.
Sources: World Athletics; Athletics Illustrated.
