London Marathon: Ethiopia’s Tigist Tufa ends Kenya’s four-year domination

London, UK – Ethiopia’s Tigist Tufa ended Kenya’s four-year domination of the London marathon women’s race with surprise victory in 2:23:22 here today .

In the men’s race, Eliud Kipchoge won a thrilling battle with his fellow Kenyan Wilson Kipsang over the final kilometres but prevailed to win the IAAF Gold Label Road Race by five seconds in 2:04:42.

Nine women were still together at 35km but Tufa, 28, who was only the ninth-fastest in the field, pulled clear over the final five kilometres for the biggest win – both financially and in terms of prestige – of her career.

At 40km, Tufa had an 11-second lead over her nearest rivals, Kenya’s Mary Keitany and Ethiopia’s Tirfi Tsegaye, and added to her advantage over the final two kilometres as she finished 18 clear of Keitany, who was second in 2:23:40, while Tirfi was third in 2:23:41.

Tufa became the first Ethiopian women’s champion since Derartu Tulu in 2001. “The weather was very difficult for me and I found it a very slow race until the end and I was pushed,” she reflected.

Read more at: IAAF.org