Fotyen Tesfay of Ethiopia delivered a remarkable performance at the Barcelona Marathon, winning the race with the second-fastest marathon time ever recorded.
Running her first marathon, the 28-year-old crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 53 seconds, finishing far ahead of Jepkosgei Kiplimo, who came second nearly eight minutes later, while Zeineba Yimer finished third.
Tesfay said she had hoped to challenge the marathon world record but strong winds made it difficult to maintain the pace late in the race.
Her finishing time was just 57 seconds short of the current world record of 2:09:56 set by Ruth Chepng’etich of Kenya. Although Chepng’etich later received a three-year ban for anti-doping rule violations, the record remains valid because it was set before the positive test.
In the men’s race, Abel Chelangat from Uganda claimed victory ahead of Patrick Mosin and Jonathan Korir.
Tesfay said she plans to target the world record in a future marathon.
Source: TRT Sports
