The men’s marathon race at the World Championships in Athletics in Eugene ended on Sunday with an Ethiopian double: Tamirat Tola won ahead of Mosinet Geremew in a World Championship record time. Bronze went to Belgium, the German starter Tom Gröschel came in 43rd with a lot of deficit, but finished satisfied.
On Sunday (July 17th, 2022) the Kenyan Barnabas Kiptum led half the distance, a larger leading group stayed together until about ten kilometers before the finish, but then Tola increased the pace. The entire competition could not follow this start. The 30-year-old quickly gained a small lead at the front and in the end ran safely towards victory – 2:05:36 hours meant a world championship record time. His Ethiopian teammate Mosinet Geremew (2:06:44) finished second, while Bashir Abdi from Belgein (2:06:48) won the bronze medal. The runner nation of Kenya went away empty-handed in the absence of superstar Eliud Kipchoge.
The 2019 world champion in Doha, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia, has been dethroned. At the World Championships marathon in Eugene, the 32-year-old didn’t have a say in the decision about gold, silver and bronze this time. He couldn’t keep up with the leading group in a very fast race.
Gröschel was the only German at the start – and finished 43rd
Tom Gröschel was the only German athlete at the start. He finished 43rd in a time of 2:14:57 hours with a long deficit. “It was a super tough race. In the end I was able to work my way up bit by bit,” said the 30-year-old after the race on ZDF. “I’m happy and glad it’s over now.” Hendrik Pfeiffer and Amanal Petros are concentrating on the European Championships in Munich in August.
At the race in Eugene, which took place on a 14-kilometre circuit that had to be run three times, the 63 runners from 33 nations had to be wide awake – the starting shot was fired at 6.15 a.m. local time. The athletes were able to complete the course in pleasantly cool temperatures of around 15 degrees Celsius.