Ethiopia's Lemma denies Kenyan men in London
Ethiopia's Sisay Lemma runs to the tape as he wins the elite men's race of the 2021 London Marathon in central London on October 3, 2021. Lemma won the 2023 Valencia Marathon on Sunday.
What you need to know:
- Kipchumba, who led through over the distance, once again finished second, but in a personal best of 2:04:28 as Mosinet Geremew from Ethiopia came third in 2:04:41 followed by Kenya’s Evans Chebet in 2:05:43.
- Birhanu Legese of Ethiopia wrapped up the top five vanguard in 2:06:10 with compatriot and defending champion Shura Kitata coming next in 2:07:51.
The London Marathon title escaped Kenyan men for the second straight year as Ethiopian Sisay Lemma shrugged off leader Kenya’s Vincent Kichumba in the last seven kilometres to win in 2 hours, 04 minutes and 01 seconds on Sunday.
Lemma, who finished third last year, had his tactics in place this time around, coming from four places behind at the 35km mark for his maiden World Marathon Majors Series victory.
Kipchumba, who led through over the distance, once again finished second, but in a personal best of 2:04:28 as Mosinet Geremew from Ethiopia came third in 2:04:41 followed by Kenya’s Evans Chebet in 2:05:43.
Birhanu Legese of Ethiopia wrapped up the top five vanguard in 2:06:10 with compatriot and defending champion Shura Kitata coming next in 2:07:51.
Kipchumba, Lemma, Chebet, Legese, Geremew and Titus Ekiru, who was the fastest in the field, broke away as early as the first five kilometres leaving Kitata behind.
The group cruised past the 5km (14:33), 10km (29:13) and 15km (43:52) and 20km (58:09) with Kipchumba in the lead, but it’s Ekiru who led through halfway as they all went through in 1:01:25.
Just after Kipchumba guided Ekiru past the 25km in 1:12:39, Ekiru was seen holding his leg before he stopped as the pack approached 30km with the pack of five refusing to get off each other’s neck.
Chebet shot to the front for the first time at 35km, but it’s Lemma who responded strongly to break away going through 40km in 1:57:27 with Kipchumba in pursuit nine seconds off the pace.
It was a sweet victory for Lemma, who had not won an event in the World Marathon Majors, finishing seventh in 2016 and third in 2020 all in London.
He finished fourth in 2016 Berlin, fourth in 2017 Chicago, 30th in 2019 Boston, third in 2019 Berlin and third in 2020 Tokyo.
Top 10 finishers
1. Lemma, Sisay (Eth) 2:04:01
2. Kipchumba, Vincent (Ken) 2:04:28
3. Geremew, Mosinet (Eth) 2:04:41
4. Chebet, Evans (Ken) 2:05:43
5. Legese, Birhanu (Eth) 2:06:10
6. Kitata, Shura (Eth) 2:07:51
7. Sesemann, Philip (Gbr) 2:12:58
8. Griffiths, Joshua (Gbr) 2:13:39
9. Leach, Matthew (Gbr) 2:15:31
10. Davies, Andrew (GBR) 2:15:36
