Kenyans lead clean sweeps at the Chicago marathon

Abel Kirui celebrates winning the men's marathon at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Daegu, September 4, 2011. REUTERS

Two-time World Marathon champion Abel Kirui is this year’s Chicago Marathon winner, crossing the line in a time of 2:11:23.

Kirui was the Berlin 2009 and Daegu 2011 gold medalist.

The 34 year old led a Kenyan clean sweep of 1-2-3-4-5 to the finish line, probably announcing his return to form after four injury plagued seasons since he won silver at the London 2012 Olympics.

“I was putting in my prayers and efforts in winning today. I had a very strong mind, this time I knew it was a matter of life and death. The course favoured me and I was lucky that the weather was not so humid,” said the jubilant Kirui.

Kirui said that he now has his eyes set on winning in London next year.

“I was praying so hard that I get something here so that I request my manager to give me the three guys; Eliud (Kipchoge), Bekele (Kenisa) and Wilson Kipsang,” said Kirui after his triumph.

Dickson Chumba, who went into the race as the defending champion, was dethroned and came in second in a time of 2:11:26 despite displaying a spirited fight to retain the crown in the 42 kilometer race.

At some point, it appeared like the 29 year old’s dream would come true when he put Kirui to the task in the last final kilometer, but Kirui managed to pull away and held on to the finish line, capping his win with a majestic dance.

Gideon Kipketer came in third with a time of 2:12:20 seconds ahead of compatriot Paul Lonyangata who registered a time of 2:13:17.

Lonyangata had earlier in the race attempted to pull away at the 25 kilometer mark, but his efforts summed up a little more like pacesetting as he failed to shake off the chasing pack.

Lonyangata, 24, eventually gave up the fight with a few miles to the 40 kilometer mark and never recovered.

Compatriot Stephen Sambu stretched home behind him with a time of 2:13:35.

On the women side, Florence Kiplagat proved her prowess and defended her crown, the second woman to do so in the competition, coming home in a time of 2:21:32.

Kiplagat replicated her male compatriots by leading a 1-2-3-4 sweep for the ladies.

Edna Kiplagat came in second with a time of 2:23:28 followed closely by Valentine Kipketer who clocked 2:23:41.

Purity Rionoripo wrapped up the Kenyan sweep by hitting the crossing line at 2:24:47.

Top Ten Finishes at the Chicago Marathon

Men

1. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:11:23

2. Chumba, Dickson (KEN) 2:11:26

3. Kipketer, Gideon (KEN) 2:12:20

4. Lonyangata, Paul (KEN) 2:13:17

5. Sambu, Stephen (KEN) 2:13:35

6. Ayele, Abayneh (ETH) 2:13:52

7. Fukatsu, Takuya (JPN) 2:13:53

8. Estrada, Diego (USA) 2:13:56

9. Gokaya, Koji (JPN) 2:14:34

10. Kibet, Elkanah (USA) 2:16:37

Women

1. Florence Kiplagat (KEN) 02:21:32

2. Edna Kiplagat (KEN) 02:23:28

3. Valentine Kipketer (KEN) 02:23:41

4. Purity Rionoripo (KEN) 02:24:47

5. Yebrgual Melese (ETH) 02:24:49

6. Atsede Baysa (ETH) 02:28:53

7. Serena Burla (USA) 02:30:40

8. Agnieszka Mierzejewska (POL) 2:32:13

9. Sarah Crouch (USA) 2:33:48

10. Alia Gray (USA) 2:34:00

Jane the Virgin Season Finale Recap: The Wedding of Jane Gloriana Villanueva

Ivonne Coll as Alba, Gina Rodriquez as Jane, Andrea Navedo as Xo. If I could write this whole recap with emojis, there'd be several varieties of hearts, the running man, the dancing woman, and lots and lots of fires and heart-eyed faces. Those creepy dancing twin girls would also make an appearance. And there'd be a gun. My imaginary emoji recap is appealing because it's incredibly hard to come away from a blockbuster hour of television like "Chapter Forty-Four" and pull together coherent thoughts that aren't just "AHHH!" or "WHY would you get ICE for the DAMN CHAMPAGNE?!" or "OMG FACE OFF MASK!" or "Why isn't all of life just Jane and Rogelio doing that father/daughter dance forever?" But I'll give it a try. Jane the Virgin 's season finale is a narrative fireworks display, a shock-and-awe storytelling spectacular that short-circuits emotional processing centers with blazing confidence. It drops j...

Who Is Zuleyka Rivera? 5 Things To Know About The ‘Despacito’ Actress

With ‘Despacito’ up for Record of the Year at the 2018 Grammy Awards, here’s everything you need to know about the music video’s actress — Zuleyka Rivera! 1. She’s a renowned beauty queen. Not only did she claim the Miss Universe Puerto Rico title, Zuleyka eventually took the top prize and was later crowned Miss Universe in 2006. 2. After her huge Miss Universe win, she studied acting and eventually became a TV star. She now lives in Miami where she’s frequently a special guest or a host on shows like Un Nuevo Dia on Telemundo and Despierta America on Univision. Before that, she became a breakout star by appearing on several Televisa soap operas in Mexico. 3. In addition to modeling, she also owns her own clothing line. On top of running her own teen-ware clothing collection, she also has three fragrance lines called the Karisma, Zuleyka and Zuleyka 2010. If that wasn’t impressive enough, she also started an amazing swims...

Game of Thrones recap: season 6, episode 9, Battle of the Bastards review: Jon and Sansa's bitter spat and Ramsay's brutal sacrifice

Game of Thrones season 6, episode 9, Battle of the Bastards CREDIT: HBO O h now, that was VERY impressive. And by “impressive” we mean gruelling, cathartic and upsetting. By the end of the Battle of the Bastards and the Jon Snow v Ramsay Bolton showdown over Winterfell we felt as if we’d crawled through a freezing quagmire, climbed a wall of cadavers and gasped for breath as a dozen dying men sat on our faces . Which, oddly enough, is exactly what befell Jon as the grumpy saviour negotiated the grandest mass battle Game of Thrones has yet mounted for our enjoyment/terror/disgust Tormund Giantsbane in Game of Thrones season 6, episode 9, Battle of the Bastards A cast of hundreds, a budget of millions, flayed men roasting on an open fire – season four’s penultimate episode had it all. Yet spectacle took a backseat to gut-punch drama as poor, sweet Rickon met his untimely demise and questions were raise...

USA DAWN: NEWS AND UPDATES

Search This Blog