New Delhi: Ethiopia's Atsedu Tsegay won the men's elite event with a new race record, while Florence Kiplagat of Kenya finished on top in the women's category of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon here today.
Tsegay clocked 59.10 seconds beating the previous record of 59.15 held by Deriba Merga since 2008.
"The competition was good as there were some quality athletes. I am happy to be the champion," said Tsegay after the marathon.
Meanwhile, Kiplagat finished the race with the timing of 1.07.58.
However, women's elite category saw a relatively slow race as winter of Delhi left an impact on the athletes' timing.
"For me it was slow due to the fact that I could not arrive in time due to flight problem. So there was no to time to get used to the weather here," Kiplagat said during the interaction with media.
Kiplagat was seen vomiting just after she reached the finishing line.
"I was not feeling well. I pushed myself in the last five kilometres of the race. But it was a nice experience for me," she said.
In a dramatic turn of events, last year's winner Edwin Kipyego finished eighth place.
Former Junior world champion Geoffrey Kipsang of Kenya came second with the timing of 59:30 while his compatriot Wilson Kiprop finished in third position after clocking 59:49 seconds.
In the women's elite category, it was an all Kenyan affair as Gladys Cherono came second with 1:08:03 and Lucy Kabuu finished third with the timing of 1:08:10.
Winners of the elite category pocketed a cool sum of Rs 2.5 lakh (USD 25,000).
Among Indian athletes, Preeja Sreedharan was the top finisher after she clocked 1:20:04 in her maiden appearance at the event.
Among the men, G Laxman was the top finisher with a timing of 1:04:44. Athletes made a complaint regarding three sharp turns which they believed left affected their pace.Tsegay, the fastest athlete of 2012, had a poor run at this event last year, finishing 20th and suffering an ankle injury, that kept him out of competition for nearly a year. On Sunday he proved that he is back to his top form.
"I am happy to win the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon as I did not run for nearly a year because of an ankle injury. This is only my second race post the injury and am happy with my performance," Tsegay said.
"I paced till 12 km and at 15 km I realised that I have a huge lead and will win the event. The climate was extremely cold so initially it was a little difficult to adjust to the conditions," he added.
Kipsang was satisfied with his effort given that he was dealing with grief as well.
"This was a tough time for me, as I lost my younger brother two days ago. I was heartbroken, but I decided to stay and compete. I am happy with my performance and I would like to dedicate this race to my younger. While running, I only kept telling myself that I need to run and finish this race for my brother," said Kipsang.
The elite women had a slow start as they did not keep pace with pacer Alice Kimutai, but picked up the speed and went through the 5km mark at 17.10, much behind the course record.
The next 5 kms were faster and the 10km mark was passed through in 33.17, at which point pacer Kimutai dropped out. It was a bunch of six women that went into the lead, among them Lucy Kabuu, Florence Kiplagat, Meseret Hailu, Gladys Cherono and Wude Ayalew.
Florence further pushed the pace to take the group through 15km in 49.12 before Meseret dropped back at the 16km mark.
The next three kms were run at a fast pace at an average of 3 mins per km and by the 18km mark Florence had opened up a lead of around 100m. Kabuu flagged a bit at this juncture but Gladys kept running powerfully to whittle down the lead, however, she could not catch up with a fast finishing Florence.
Indian men's winner Lakshmanan was content to remain behind leader V L Dangi for a major part of the race, before breaking away in the last two kms to win.
"It's a good feeling to win, especially since I do not really prepare for long distance event. I only prepare for 5 km, 10 km and Asian track events. The weather conditions here were similar to our training camp in Bangalore and that really helped me. I had not expected to win with such good timing and I finished almost two minutes faster than the time I had set in mind," said Lakshmanan.
The Indian women's race was a very slow one, with the leading athletes content to bide their time. Preeja broke away in the last km to lead a sprint finish ahead of Kavita.
"I am very excited and happy to win the Airtel Delhi Half marathon. This is the first time I am participating in this event and the conditions here were the same as our camp in Munnar. I think, that was an advantage for me," said Preeja.
As usual the race witnessed the participation of a large number of enthusiasts and celebrities, among them Anil Ambani, N Chandrasekharan (CEO & MD, TCS), and actor Rahul Bose.
A host of dignitaries including event ambassador Donovan Bailey, besides Bipasha Basu, Gulshan Grover, Rakesh Mittal (Vice Chiarman and MD, Bharti Enterprises Ltd.), Ajay Puri (Director Market Operations, Bharti Airtel), were present to cheer on the participants.
Following are the results:
Overall Athlete Men: Atsedu Tsegay (ETH) 00:59:12 (NCR); Geoffrey Kipsang (KEN) 00:59:30;Wilson Kiprop (KEN) 00:59:49; Kenneth Kipkemoi (KEN) 00:59:55; Nicholas Kipkemboi (KEN) 01:00:24; Philemon Rono (KEN) 01:01:07; Gladwin Mzazi (RSA) 01.:01:12; Edwin Kipyego (KEN) 01:01:21; Leonard Korir (KEN) 01:01:25; Richard Mengich (KEN) 01:01:27.
Overall Athlete Women: Florence Kiplagat (KEN) 01:08:00; Gladys Cherono (KEN) 01:08:03; Lucy Kabuu (KEN) 01:08:10; Meseret Hailu (ETH) 01:09:05; Wude Ayalew (ETH) 01:09:21; Emily Chebet (KEN) 01:09:22; Alice Kimutai (KEN) 01:10:09; Yebrgual Melese (ETH) 01:11:59; Lineth Chepkurui (KEN) 01:12:01; Paskalia Kipkoech (KEN) 01:12:02.
Overall Indian Athlete Men: G Lakshmanan (IND) 01:04:44 (Overall 15th); Kheta Ram (IND) 01:04:49 (Overall 16th); Rattiram Saini (IND) 01:04:51 (Overall 17th); V L Dangi (IND) 01:04:53 (Overall 18th); Indrajeet Patel (IND) 01:06:04 (Overall 19th); Rahul Kumar Pal (IND) 01:06:17 (Overall 20th); Mukesh Rawat (IND) 01:06:39; Baliappa A B (IND) 01:06:47; Rajesh Thankachan (IND) 01:08:34; Ajay Kumar Patel (IND) 01:09:45.
Overall Indian Athlete Women: Preeja Sreedharan (IND) 01:20:04 (Overall 15th); Kavita Raut (IND) 01:20:06 (Overall 16th); Lalita Babbar (IND) 01:20:09 (Overall 17th); Sudha Singh (IND) 01:20:20 (Overall 18th); Ritu Pal (IND) 01:20:44 (Overall 19th); Manisha Salunkhe (IND) 01:20:57 (Overall 20th); Swati Gadhwe (IND) 01:21:09; Rohini Raut (IND) 01:21:55; Ranjana Kumari (IND) 01:27:01; Neetu (IND) 01:29:39.
Celebrities cheer Delhi at half-marathon
Celebrities cheer Delhi at half-marathon
New Delhi: Stars from the field of sports and entertainment today motivated Delhiites to put on their running shoes and participate in the Airtel Half Marathon here today.
'Special Guest' of the event, sprint legend Milkha Singh was present at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium and he lauded the event wholeheartedly.
"I would like to congratulate the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon organisers for organising an event like this where top athletes from all over the world came and participated," he said.
The legendary runner also said that an event like this would help build a united society.
"Such events should be held in the interiors of our country as these events bring people closer and increase the community feeling," Singh said
The 'Flying Sikh' hoped to see an Olympic medal winner from Indian athletics.
"Losing the Olympic medal was a grave loss to me as well as for the country. I want to someone form India to stand in podium in my lifetime," Singh said.
'Face of the Event' Bipasha Basu was there to add the glamour quotient to the event.
"It is fascinating for a fitness freaks like me to see such a huge number of people coming and participating in the marathon on chilly morning," she said
Business tycoon Anil Ambani and bollywood actor Rahul Bose also turned up and participated in the half marathon.
"I am a huge fan of sports. I try to take part in such event whenever I get time," said Rahul Bose
Another Bollywood celebrity Gulshan Grover was also seen cheering the participants from the starting line.
Tsegay, Kipsang battle odds at Delhi half-marathon
Tsegay, Kipsang battle odds at Delhi half-marathon
New Delhi: The top two finishers of this year's Delhi Half Marathon men's elite race epitomise the grit and determination that is associated with long-distance running.
Ethiopian Atsedu Tsegay, this year's winner who shattered the course record en route to his triumph, was going through a difficult time as he was recovering from an injury due to which he could not compete in any event throughout the year.
"Since last year, I had the ankle injury. I am happy that I have clocked 59 minutes mark. This is my first race in the year," said Tsegay.
The runner-up, Kenya's Geoffrey Kipsang was dealing with immense emotional stress as he had lost his brother prior to the event but decided to go on and compete.
"I lost my brother prior to the race. That was difficult because I had to go back to Kenya but I decided to stay back and run," said Kipsang.
Former world junior cross champion Kipsang wanted to finish the race at the top as that would have been the perfect homage to his departed brother, but eventually came second.
"I tried hard but it was difficult. I wanted to win the race but I failed," said the Kenyan athlete after the race.
