Ethiopian Assefa pulls away to win London Marathon
LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa shattered the women's-only world record in winning the 45th London Marathon on Sunday, pulling away from Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya over the final couple of kilometres after the two had set a blistering early pace.
The 28-year-old Assefa, silver medallist in the event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, crossed the finish line in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds, beating the previous women's-only record of 2:16:16 set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Jepkosgei, 31, finished second in 2:18.44.
The sizzling early pace was too much for reigning Olympic marathon champion and 2024 London winner Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who fell back off the leaders around the halfway mark en route to finishing third in 2:19.00.
It was a Swiss double in the wheelchair events, with Marcel Hug racing to his sixth London marathon title in 1:25:25 and Catherine Debrunner winning her third women's title in four years in 1:34:18, missing her own world record by two seconds.
A world record 56,000 runners were expected to participate in the 42.195-kilometre race that started at Greenwich Park, snaked along the River Thames before finishing on The Mall.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Olympic legend Mary Lou Retton speaks out for the first time since DUI arrest
Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton has issued a groveling apology in the wake of her DUI arrest, speaking out for the first time since the shocking incident last month. The 57-year-old retired gymnast appeared in court in West Virginia on Tuesday and has now spoken out for the first time, opening up on her 'completely unacceptable' actions. On May 17, Retton was found in her car in a parking lot with a screw-top bottle of wine on the passenger seat, before refusing to have her blood tested for alcohol. In court on Tuesday, Retton entered a no contest plea to a non-aggravated DUI charge, receiving a $100 fine - the standard amount for a first-time offense. 'I take full responsibility for my actions,' she told PEOPLE after the court hearing, her first public statement on the incident nearly a month on. 'What happened was completely unacceptable,' she added, through her attorney Edmund J. Rollo. 'I make no excuses. To my family, friends and my fans: I have let you down, and for that I am deeply sorry. 'I am determined to learn and grow from this experience, and I am committed to making positive changes in my life. I truly appreciate your concern, encouragement and continued support.' In addition, she asked for 'privacy as she moves forward with her personal and professional life.' Retton previously courted controversy in 2023, when she was hospitalized with a rare form of pneumonia and her family set up a Spotfund page for support, which went on to raise over half a million dollars. The family soon drew criticism after refusing to clarify where the donations would be going. Retton's claim to not have insurance was also doubted by some. Just over a year since the illness left her fighting for her life in a hospital ICU, news of her booze-fueled antics sparked concern as she continues to undergo treatment for long Covid and lung problems. And according to Shaun Kelley, the brother of her ex-husband Shannon, just one drink is capable of causing a chemical imbalance in Mary Lou's brain because of the medications she's currently taking. 'She couldn't even take a full breath when I talked to her, she takes these little panting breaths,' Shaun told The New York Post about his ex-sister-in-law last week, whom he says has no history of alcohol abuse. He also added: 'She is on all these meds and one drink could throw off her brain chemistry.'
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Andreescu and Alexandrova off to winning start as rain stops play in 's-Hertogenbosch
June 10 (Reuters) - Bianca Andreescu and second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova both kicked off their grasscourt campaigns with solid first-round wins at the Libema Open in Den Bosch, as rain caused significant delays throughout Tuesday's second day of play. Andreescu eased past Taiwan's Joanna Garland 6-1 6-3 as the 24-year-old Canadian put on a strong performance without facing a single break point and secured victory in 74 minutes. The former U.S. Open champion, who missed out on qualifying for Roland Garros, will next face New Zealand's Lulu Sun. Alexandrova advanced to the second round with a composed 6-3 6-4 win over Georgia's Mariam Bolkvadze, despite a lengthy rain delay disrupting the first set. The Russian returned from the interruption unfazed, taking control from the baseline and racing to a 5-2 lead in the second set. After being broken while serving for the match and facing another break point in her next service game, Alexandrova regained her composure to close out the win and set up an all-Russian second-round showdown with Anna Blinkova. The match between defending champion Liudmila Samsonova and Canada's qualifier Carson Branstine was tied at one set apiece before the game was suspended due to darkness. Branstine had stunned top seed Samsonova by taking the first set 6-4 before the Russian levelled the match by winning the second 7-5. Play will resume on Wednesday. In the men's draw, American Reilly Opelka also overcame several rain delays to see off local favourite Jesper de Jong with a hard-fought 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-2 victory. Several matches had to be postponed to Wednesday due to rain, including Polish fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut, Briton Daniel Evans against Australia's Rinky Hijikata, and Greece's Maria Sakkari taking on Dutch wildcard Anouk Koevermans.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Australia seal World Cup spot with win over Saudi as Oman deny Palestine
HONG KONG, June 10 (Reuters) - Australia sealed qualification for the World Cup on Tuesday when Tony Popovic's side secured a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in Jeddah while Oman kept their hopes of a place at the finals alive with a last-gasp 1-1 draw with Palestine in Jordan. The Socceroos had to avoid a five-goal defeat to confirm their appearance at a sixth consecutive finals, and goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke earned the Australians a come-from-behind win to brush aside the Saudis. Abdulrahman Al-Obud had given the home side a glimmer of hope when he netted from close range in the 19th minute but Metcalfe equalised with three minutes left in the half to extinguish Saudi dreams. Duke then put the visitors in front in the 48th minute when he glanced Martin Boyle's free kick past Nawaf Al-Aqidi before Maty Ryan, making his 100th appearance for the Socceroos, made a late penalty save to deny Salem Al-Dawsari an equaliser. The win confirms the Australians as second-place finisher in Group C behind Japan, who secured their spot at the finals in March. Saudi Arabia took third place in Group C and will feature in a fourth phase of qualifiers in October alongside Indonesia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Oman. The Omanis kept their hopes alive at the expense of Palestine as Issam Al-Sabhi's penalty deep into stoppage time earned the Gulf side a draw that kept them in fourth place in Group B. A header by Oday Kharoub gave Palestine a 49th-minute lead and a second yellow card for Oman's Harib Al-Saadi had put Ihab Abu Jazar's side in control until the dying minutes, when Muhsen Al-Ghassani was brought down in the area. Al-Sabhi stepped up to send goalkeeper Rami Hamada the wrong way to seal fourth place in the group for Oman and eliminate the heartbroken Palestinians. Earlier in the evening, Japan crushed Indonesia 6-0 with Daichi Kamada scoring twice in the first half in Osaka as the Samurai Blue won Group C while Wang Yudong's late penalty had China finish their campaign with a 1-0 win over Bahrain. Iran confirmed themselves as Group A winners with a 3-0 win over North Korea that came after Kye Tam was sent off for the visitors with 24 minutes remaining in Tehran. Mehdi Mohebi, Mehdi Taremi and Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh were all on target in the last 16 minutes to guarantee first place for the Iranians, who had secured their berth in March. Already-qualified Uzbekistan took second spot with a 3-0 win against Qatar in Tashkent while the United Arab Emirates claimed third ahead of the Qataris despite conceding a late goal to draw 1-1 with Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek. South Korea completed their commitments in Group B with a 4-0 thrashing of Kuwait to ensure Hong Myung-bo's World Cup-bound outfit topped the standings with an unbeaten record. Jordan, who qualified for their first World Cup on Thursday, finished second in Group B despite losing 1-0 to Graham Arnold's Iraq in Amman.
