•Kebebe clocked a time of two hours, six minutes, and 46 seconds to cross the finishing line first ahead of Kirwa who placed second in 2:06:52.
•As one of China’s top marathons, the 2024 Xiamen Marathon attracted 30,000 contestants.
Image: FILE
Kenya’s Felix Kirwa took silver in the men’s race as Ethiopians dominated the Xiamen Marathon On Sunday morning.
Ethiopian Asefa Boki Kebebe claimed the men’s race while compatriot Bekelech Gudeta Borecha won the women’s title.
Kebebe clocked a time of two hours, six minutes, and 46 seconds to cross the finishing line first ahead of Kirwa who placed second in 2:06:52.
Othmane El Goumri from Morocco took bronze in 2:07:18. “The race was good but the wind was very strong. It’s a tough race but I made it,” said Kirwa.
Borecha clocked 2:22:54 to win the women’s race ahead of Morocco’s Fatima Gardadi, who finished second in 2:24:12.
China’s Zhang Deshun took the bronze in 2:26:53. “I’m so happy to get the bronze medal. It gives me more confidence. In the following months, I will make efforts to prepare for the Olympics,” said Zhang.
As one of China’s top marathons, the 2024 Xiamen Marathon attracted 30,000 contestants.
The Xiamen Marathon gained the World Athletics Elite Platinum Label in 2021, becoming the second Chinese marathon race to win this label after the Shanghai Marathon.
Meanwhile, World Athletics Road Running Manager Alessio Punzi has hailed China as a great contributor to the world marathon development.
Punzi, who attended the fifth China Marathon Expo, said since 1981 when the Beijing Marathon debuted, a road running market in China has been built, improved, and matured.
“Now, there is a road-running event boom in China,” he added. According to the Chinese Athletics Association, the year 2023 witnessed 580 official marathons in China with 5.5 million participants. “The Chinese Athletics Association has a certain job to control that, creating regulations, creating guidelines on the practice for the harmonious development of the marathons,” said Punzi.
“Also, running plays an important role in the Healthy China Policy, which is seen by the central government and the local government. They are very positive for the continuing growth of the sport,” he added. “Not every country in the world has the resources and organization that China has,” Punzi said.
“It would be important if more of the rest of the world’s organizers came here to see how the Chinese organise the marathons because it is second to none,” he noted.