Double glory for Kenya as Wanjiru, Keitany win gold
Daniel Wanjiru and record-breaking Mary Keitany made it a memorable double for Kenya on Sunday as they stormed to victories in the London Marathon.
Keitany, recording her third London win to put alongside her trio of New York victories, set a new world record for a women’s only marathon as she clocked 2hr 17min 01sec, smashing the 14-year-old mark of British great Paula Radcliffe.
“It was a great day for me. It was really amazing to run the best time,” 35-year-old Keitany told the BBC. “The weather was good at the beginning, it was nice for me and my pace. I’ve run my best,” added Keitany, who saw off an Ethiopian great in Tirunesh Dibaba.
Keitany’s fellow Kenyan Wanjiru, 24, recorded his greatest victory as he kept Kenenisa Bekele at bay despite a late rally from the Ethiopian legend and race favourite.
“We helped each other from the start, and we tried to maintain that pace for half of the race,” said Wanjiru of his duel with Bekele. Wanjiru hinted that he could see himself breaking the world record in the future. “It was very comfortable,” he said.
Aside from the professionals running for prize money, the great majority of the 40,000 participants were amateurs running their hearts out for charity.
GATLIN, THOMPSON RULE WORLD RELAYS
Evergreen American sprinter Justin Gatlin struck gold when he anchored his team to victory at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau on Saturday, while double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson shone for Jamaica.
The battle between Gatlin, the 35-year-old 2004 Olympic 100m champion who has served two doping bans, and Usain Bolt’s self-professed successor Andre de Grasse did not play out well as the Canadian was deprived of the chance to run his leg after a botched handover by his teammates.
De Grasse, a three-time medallist at the Rio Olympics, had cocked his head over towards Gatlin three times before turn ing on the afterburners to edge the American in the heats.
But there was to be no show boating come the final at a breezy, half-full Thomas A.
Robinson stadium as Aaron Brown fluffed his handover to Brendon Rodney.
The US were not out of dan ger, however, with Britain look ing to be ahead as Gatlin took the baton from Ronnie Baker after slick passovers between Leshon Collins and Mike Rodg ers.
But Englishman Danny Tal bot failed to hit his mark and Gatlin had a free run in for 38.43sec, eyes glued on the big screen in near bewilderment as Barbados took silver at a distant 39.12 and China bronze (39.22).