The previous steeplechaser triumphs within the girls’s race, whereas Ezra Tanui is victorious within the males’s occasion within the Qatari capital
The 2025 Doha Marathon by Ooredoo lived as much as expectation, with Ethlemahu Sintayehu and Ezra Kipketer Tanui taking the plaudits (January 17).
Within the elite girls’s race, Sintayehu clocked 2:21:43 and beat compatriot Muluhabt Tsega by 38 seconds.
Sintayehu, who positioned sixth within the 3000m steeplechase on the 2018 World Underneath-20 Championships in Tampere, is now a marathon specialist and timed her race to perfection within the Qatari capital.
The Ethiopian is barely 23 years previous however confirmed immense endurance when deciding to make a transfer away from the main pack within the latter phases.
Ethlemahu Sintayehu (Doha Marathon by Ooredoo)
All sixth Ethiopians within the girls’s area stayed collectively – aided by three male pacemakers – for the primary half of the race, going by means of the 21.1km mark in 71:00.
Nonetheless, the previous few kilometres of the race proved decisive and with the end line over the horizon, Sintayehu established a spot between herself and the others.
As she sprinted in the direction of the tape on the pink carpet, Sintayehu knew she’d secured the victory and held her arms aloft in celebration.
The Ethiopian additionally smashed her private finest of two:25:36 – set in Abu Dhabi two years in the past – over 26.2 miles.
Within the elite males’s race, Kenya’s Ezra Kipketer Tanui clocked 2:07:28 and beat Ethiopia’s Balew Yihunle by simply eight seconds.
Tanui, who completed fourth in the identical occasion final 12 months, wasn’t going to surrender victory simply and broke away from his opponent within the final couple of kilometres.
After triumphing in a pulsating battle on Doha’s Corniche, the 27-year-old crossed the tape with each arms within the air, in what was simply his second ever marathon.
“I’m pleased to win the Doha Marathon by Ooredoo,” Tanui mentioned. “Final 12 months I completed fourth so I’m delighted I’ve gained the race this 12 months. Final 12 months the climate was so sizzling however right now it was cool and the course was good.
“I used to be feeling good due to my coaching and I’ve to pay enormous tributes to my coach and supervisor. The exercises helped me loosen up right now and, together with the cooler local weather, it’s made a distinction.”
The beginning of the Doha Marathon by Ooredoo (Doha Marathon by Ooredoo)
Shura Kitata, the 2020 London Marathon champion, was the standout title at this 12 months’s Doha Marathon by Ooredoo however he solely positioned ninth with 2:08:38.
The Ethiopian, who has additionally completed as a runner-up on two events on the New York Metropolis Marathon, has a finest of two:04:49 over 26.2 miles.
Each course data – Mouhcine Outalha’s 2:06:49 and Meseret Belete’s 2:20:46 from 2023 – survived one other 12 months.
Situations have been nigh on good for distance operating – it was round 14C for the 6am begin – so there’s little question that the Doha Marathon by Ooredoo will get faster sooner or later.
Runners at Al Dafna Park (Doha Marathon by Ooredoo)
This was simply the third version of the Doha Marathon by Ooredoo that hosted elite athletes, with the mass participation occasions going again to 2014.
Round 15,000 individuals took half within the 5km, 10km, half-marathon and marathon within the Qatari capital this 12 months, up from 2000 in 2023.
Runners have been handled to dwell music and different actions at Al Dafna Park, positioned only a quick stroll away from Doha’s Corniche.
The day past, round 1000 youngsters bought the chance to race over a slimmed down 1km circuit across the park.
Full outcomes from the Doha Marathon by Ooredoo will be discovered right here.
» Subscribe to AW journal right here, try our new podcast right here or signal as much as our digital archive of again points from 1945 to the current day right here
