Tadias Magazine

Tadias Magazine

By Tadias Staff

Updated: November 4th, 2024

New York (TADIAS) — The New York City Marathon once again transformed the city into a vibrant festival of resilience and camaraderie this weekend. Over a million spectators lined the streets of all five boroughs, cheering on more than 50,000 runners in the iconic race, now in its 54th year.

This year’s winners, Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands and Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya, achieved remarkable finishes with late surges of speed, yet the presence of Ethiopian runners remained a focal point for the community. Although they didn’t claim victory this time, their participation continued to inspire and underscored Ethiopia’s renowned legacy in distance running.

Among the notable participants was Tamirat Tola, the men’s defending champion and Paris Olympic gold medalist, who delivered an impressive performance despite finishing just shy of the podium in fourth place. Tamirat, who set the course record in last year’s marathon, was vying to become the first back-to-back men’s champion since Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai in 2011 and 2013—a record pursuit interrupted in 2012 due to bad weather.

Reflecting on his race, Tamirat told an AP reporter, “I had a good year. I won the Olympics and then to come back to New York after that, you know it’s a tough course. I know that I expended a lot of energy. Around the 33-kilometer mark I felt my muscle tighten, and my muscles just couldn’t handle it.”

Beyond the competition, many runners took part to honor loved ones, raise funds, or simply challenge themselves. From humorous signs poking fun at city institutions to families flying in from across the globe, the NYC Marathon proves each year that it’s more than a race; it’s a celebration of human spirit and collective support.

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Related:

Read more: PHOTOS: 2024 New York City Marathon Recap (NY Daily News)
NYC Marathon brings out more than a million spectators (NY Post)

Abdi Nageeye, Sheila Chepkirui earn first NYC Marathon wins (AP)

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Abdi Nageeye and Sheila Chepkirui used strong kicks in the final mile to pull away from their nearest competitors and both win the New York City Marathon for the first time Sunday.

Nageeye, who became the first runner from the Netherlands to win the men’s race, was step-for-step with 2022 champion Evans Chebet before using a burst of speed heading into Central Park for the final time to come away with the win in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 39 seconds. Chebet finished 6 seconds behind.

“When I was finishing, the emotions weren’t there in the moment, but I just couldn’t believe that I was going to win it,” Nageeye said. “I felt like I was dreaming. Most people didn’t even expect me to be in the top five, but I know what I am capable of. This was my race today.”

He had run the New York race three times before with his best finish coming in 2022, when he was third.

“I know the course,” said Nageeye, who won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. “Today was two things: survive that race and my race is after 36 (kilometers; 22 miles). I was thinking like a cyclist, survive 36K and you’re going to win.”

Nageeye ran in the Paris Olympic marathon, but dropped out about 10 miles in after a hard collision with Kenyan Alexander Mutiso before the halfway point.

Chepkirui was running New York for the first time and pulled away from defending champion Hellen Obiri in the women’s race in the last stretch.

“Let me push the last mile, let me give it my best,” the Kenyan said. “When we were around 600 meters to go, I said to myself I have to push harder. When I saw Hellen wasn’t coming, I knew I was going to win and was so happy.”

Chepkirui, who started to run marathons in 2022, won in 2:24.35. Obiri finished nearly 15 seconds behind.

Obiri was looking to be the first consecutive champion since Mary Keitany of Kenya won three in a row from 2014-16. Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya finished third, giving the African nation the top three spots. It was the first time ever that Kenyans had swept the women’s medal positions.

Tamirat Tola, the men’s defending champion and Paris Olympic gold medalist, finished fourth, right behind Albert Korir.

“I had a good year,” Tola told The Associated Press through a translator. “I won the Olympics and then to come back to New York after that, you know it’s a tough course. I know that I expended a lot of energy. Around the 33-kilometer mark I felt my muscle tighten and my muscles just couldn’t handle it.”

Tola, who set the course record last year, was looking to be the first back-to-back men’s champion since Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won in 2011 and 2013. The 2012 race was canceled because of Superstorm Sandy.

The top Americans finished sixth in both races. Conner Mantz led the men and Sara Vaughn the women. Vaughn was in the lead group heading into Mile 20 when they entered the Bronx before she dropped off the lead pack.

Vaughn was geared up to run Chicago before COVID-19 kept her from competing in that race. She was a late addition to this marathon.

The day got started with an upset in the men’s wheelchair race as three-time defending champion Marcel Hug was beaten by Daniel Romanchuk, who also won in 2018 and 2019. Susannah Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair race. It was her second victory in New York, also taking the 2022 race and giving Americans winners in both events — the first time that has happened.

The 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) course took runners through all five boroughs of New York, starting in Staten Island and ending in Central Park. This is the 48th year the race has been in all five boroughs. Before that, the route was completely in Central Park when it began in 1970. The first race had only 55 finishers while more than 50,000 competed this year.

A few hours after the top runners finished, it was announced that the Sydney Marathon would become the seventh world major marathon, joining Berlin, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo, London and New York.

The weather was perfect to run in with temperatures in the lower 40s when the race started. Last year, it was 61 degrees when the race started.

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Tadias Magazine

Updated: March 21st, 2023

Los Angeles (TADIAS) — Ethiopian athletes dominated the men’s division of the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon held on Sunday, claiming the first and second spots.

Jemal Yimer won the race, completing the 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) course in an impressive 2 hours, 13 minutes, 13.58 seconds, with his teammate Yemane Tsegay finishing second.

Barnaba Kipkoech of Kenya secured third place, while Hosava Kretzmann from Arizona was the top American men’s finisher, completing his first marathon in sixth place.

In the women’s division, Stacy Ndiwa from Kenya claimed the top spot, crossing the finish line in 2:31:00.24. Martha Akeno, also from Kenya, finished second, while Grace Kahura secured third place. Ashley Paulson from St. George, Utah, was the top American women’s finisher, coming in fourth place.

The marathon was held on a cloudy day with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees (15 Celsius), starting at Dodger Stadium and ending near Avenue of the Stars in Century City on Los Angeles’ westside.

Jemal Yimer, of Ethiopia, wins the men’s division of the Los Angeles Marathon in Los Angeles, Sunday, March 19, 2023. (AP Photo)

Yimer and Ndiwa each received $6,000 for their respective victories, with Ndiwa earning an additional $10,000 for finishing first. The men’s race began 15 minutes after the women’s race started.

The marathon showcased runners from various countries and backgrounds, making it an exciting and highly competitive event. The Los Angeles Marathon, one of the largest in the United States, is a popular annual event that attracts thousands of runners and spectators from all over the world, and all the participants deserve congratulations for their achievements!

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Associated Press

LONDON — Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma won the men’s London Marathon in a time of two hours four minutes and one second after breaking away from the leading pack late in the race on Sunday.

Lemma, who finished on the podium last year, crossed the line 27 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Vincent Kipchuma with Mosinet Geremew third.

Meanwhile, in the women’s race, opting for the London Marathon over the defense of her New York title next month paid off for Joyciline Jepkosgei after the Kenyan won on her debut in the British capital on Sunday.

Jepkosgei won in two hours, 17 minutes, 43 seconds — making her the seventh fastest woman in history. Degitu Azimeraw of Ethiopia was second with compatriot Ashete Bekere third.

It was the first full-scale staging of the London Marathon in more than two years due to the pandemic, with around 40,000 runners joining some of the world’s best on the the 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) route from Blackheath in southeast London to The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace in the center of the city.

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FanDuel

The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games are in full swing and sports fans are able to put in wagers on a number of different events on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Men’s track & field remains one of the most exciting sports on the Olympic schedule every year. Specifically, the 3,000m steeplechase competition made its debut at the 1920 Olympics. Athletes push their bodies to the limits in order to battle at the most elite level in the world.

Olympics Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase

Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale leads all competitors with odds set at +130 to take home the gold in this event, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The 21-year-old is set to make his first Olympics appearance and set his personal best time of 8:05.21 in 2019 while running at Doha.

Soufiane El Bakkali of Morroco follows closely behind with odds set at +155.

Here’s how the rest of the Olympics men’s 3,000m steeplechase Gold Medal odds are shaping up.

Olympics Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase Gold Medal Odds

1. Getnet Wale (ETH): +130
2. Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR): +155
3. Abraham Kibiwot (KEN): +700
4. Bikila Tadese Takele (ETH): +750
5. Leonard Bett (KEN): +1100
6. Benjamin Kigen (KEN): +1300
7. Hilary Bor (USA): +1600
8. Abrham Sime (ETH): +1800
9. Mohamed Tindouft (MAR): +3400
10. Djilali Bedrani (FRA): +3400
11. Ahmed Abdelwahed (ITA): +5000
12. Fernando Carro (ESP): +6000

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Related:

Ethiopia at Tokyo Olympics: How to Watch Track and Field Live

On Twitter, Cryptocurrency Fans Cheer Ethiopia at Tokyo Olympics

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Fansided

50 years ago, Duke University hosted the experimental Pan-Africa – U.S.A. International Track Meet, looking to change a legacy of structural racism.

One year before Ethiopian Miruts Yifter won an Olympic bronze medal in Munich, Germany, and five years before he won two golds in Moscow, he miscounted laps in a race held in Durham, North Carolina. As a result, American distance running icon, Steve Prefontaine, took the title at the Pan-Africa – U.S.A. International Track Meet in front of 52,000 fans. Yifter irritated his competitors, shifting between positions throughout the race, before mistakenly using his final gear in the penultimate lap. He would soon earn the moniker “Yifter the Shifter” for his ability to change speeds so rapidly in races.

After the race, a frustrated Yifter explained that he was accustomed to hearing bells, not a gun, to signal the final lap, and did not see the lap counter. Jean Claude Ganga, a Congolese sports administrator and the selected African team manager for this particular competition, explained further, “‘In some countries, it’s a gong, gong, in others, it’s a bing, bing, bing. Here it’s a boom. He did not know this.”

This would be one of several moments of cultural reckoning 50 years ago, when athletes from across the continent were invited to North Carolina to compete at the Wallace Wade Stadium at Duke University on July 16-17, 1971.

As sport is positioned to do, the Pan-Africa – U.S.A. International Track Meet was meant to disseminate ideas and feelings of cultural cohesion. But for many, using the Pan-African namesake to advertise the event just a few short years after Black students occupied a central Duke Administration building to make demands in response to the racism they felt at the newly integrated University, and with several African countries still under colonial rule, cohesion seemed like an obvious ruse.

At the competition, Pan-Africanism had two opposing connotations. For some — namely the organizers and most spectators — it simply described the structure of the meet. Athletes from across the African continent competed as one team against athletes from the U.S. For others, most notably the Black activists who attended the meet to publicize racial oppression omnipresent in the South, Pan-Africanism was an ideology focused on uniting all people of African descent within and beyond the continent. It was, and is, an anti-imperialist and anti-racist way of organizing politics in the world. And it changed how some understood the different teams on the track and in the field.

“We decided to create this huge scoreboard and the idea was any time any Black person won points whether they were from Africa or the United States we gave those points to Africa,” civil rights activist, academic, and education reform leader, Howard Fuller, told FanSided.

Fuller, along with other students and members of the Malcolm X Liberation University (MXLU) that he helped found knew they would need to take advantage of the large staging of such an event to make a statement and espouse the values of Pan-Africanism. The University was created mostly in response to the discrimination Black students faced in Duke’s early years of integration, and the structural racism felt in Durham and beyond.

“When we learned about the track meet the first thing we did was we met the people from Africa when they got off the plane,” Fuller explains. “We had made up these packets telling them about the oppression of Black people in Durham and North Carolina. And then with the score card we brought drums to the meet and were drumming the whole time. So we turned an athletic event into a political event.”

Pre-meet dynamics around Duke University

The meet was the brainchild of Dr. LeRoy T. Walker, the head coach of North Carolina Central University (NCCU), a historically black university founded in the early 20th century. Walker coached dozens of Olympians before and after his time at NCCU, and critically forged a close relationship with Duke’s Cross Country and Track and Field Coach, Al Buehler, in order to find adequate facilities for his athletes.

One of Walker’s athletes, Lee Calhoun, only had access to five hurdles and a poorly maintained track that could easily turn an ankle. Calhoun, who went on to win Olympic Gold Medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games, as well as other several would-be Olympians, would soon be snuck into Duke’s segregated campus to practice in safer conditions.

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Boise State Public Radio

Meet Rosina Machu: Ethiopian Refugee, Idaho Track Phenom And New Boise High Graduate

Rosina Machu may be the most inspirational story of Idaho’s 2021 graduation season. She barely survived Malaria at the age of 2 and spent much of her childhood in a refugee camp in the shadow of war-torn Ethiopia. She and her family were ultimately relocated to Idaho.

As she remembers it, she wasn’t overly interested in athletics, but a Boise elementary physical education teacher insisted that she run around a track with the rest of her class.

”And at the time I was like, ‘OK, you can’t make me do sports. I don’t want to do it.’ So I just said, ‘OK,’ and I started running and I enjoyed it,” Machu said.

Indeed, she would go on to become one of Idaho’s best track athletes in recent memory.

Rosina Machu and her Boise High track teammates. (Photo: Boise High School/Courtesy Of Michael Najera)

As she prepares to say farewell to Boise High School, in preparation of attending Gonzaga University, Machu and her Boise High track coach Aaron Olswanger visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about her past and her impressive dreams for the future.

“It’s amazing, she’s so smooth, so strong just to see her progression over the last four years, it has been just remarkable.”

— Aaron Olswanger

Read the full transcript below:

GEORGE PRENTICE: It is Morning Edition on Boise State Public Radio News. Good morning. I’m George Prentice. Indeed, this is graduation season and there is much to celebrate in the class of 2021. And we’re going to meet an exceptional high school graduate and hear a bit of her story. But first, let’s say good morning to the track coach at Boise High School. He is Aaron Olswanger.

AARON OLSWANGER: Good morning. Thanks for having us on.

PRENTICE: Well, first of all, congratulations to you and making it through a school year unlike any other. Quite an achievement.

OLSWANGER: Thank you. It’s been a challenging year,

PRENTICE: But you ended together: your students in class…in person.

OLSWANGER: Yeah, it was nice getting everybody together in the last nine weeks of the school year and it almost acted like we were functioning normally again.

PRENTICE: Coach, I’m going to ask you to do the honors and introduce us to a special guest short.

OLSWANGER: This is Rosina Machu. She is, like you said, a senior graduating here. And she’s been a cross country and track and field runner for us for the last four years, at Boise High, and has basically done everything under the sun and more… and she’s more than just a tremendous leader in our program and a great role model for our younger kids.

Rosina Machu and Boise High track coach Aaron Olswanger. (Photo: Boise High School, Aaron Olswange)

PRENTICE: Rosina. Good morning.

ROSINA MACHU: Good morning.

PRENTICE: It’s my understanding that you spent some of your childhood in war-torn Ethiopia. What do you remember of those years?

MACHU: I actually remember quite a lot like up until we left in June of 2007. I believe… a lot of my memories I can remember are…since we were in a refugee camp in a war torn country, I did get sick a lot. I was very young. I had malaria. And it hit my younger sister, too. We both had malaria. It was very bad for us. And something I remember was when I was sick, at the time, my mom had to take me to the doctor to get me checked up. And I remember she had to stick a finger down my throat to make me throw up and get rid of any bad things in my body, just to make me feel better. I remember that. Whenever anyone asked me something about Ethiopia and I was there in the refugee camp, the one thing my mind goes to is that…something I will always remember.

PRENTICE: So my sense then would be that you are supersensitive to the importance of health and keeping fit, and how important it is not only for survival, but, well, to be a premium athlete, which you have become.

MACHU: Yeah. Being healthy and just taking care of your body and yourself is one of the big things to being an athlete and just being a healthy person overall. So, I try to take care of my health as best I can.

PRENTICE: Rosina… why do you run?

MACHU: To be honest, growing up as a kid, I was never the most active or athletic kid. My dad would take me to soccer games because he’s a big soccer fan. And he tried to get me into sports, especially soccer. But I was never interested. Everyone took me to the soccer games. I’d go run off and like the other kids, do anything other than watch the game. Even when we came to the United States, I wasn’t an active kid. I never joined any sports teams like my dad wanted me to. And how I got into running was in third grade when we ran the mile for the first time. I never did sports… never did running ever in my life. Our PE teacher took us outside to our giant field, made us run for laps, and I guess I had a really good time for a little third grader. He’s said, “You know what, Rosina? When you’re in fifth grade and you can start doing track and like sports, you are going to join the track team.” And at the time I was like, “OK, you can’t make me do sports. I don’t want to do it.” So I just said, “OK,” and I started running and I enjoyed it.

PRENTICE: Coach, what’s it like to watch Rosina run?

OLSWANGER: Oh, it’s amazing, she’s so smooth, so strong just to see her progression over the last four years, it has been just remarkable. And I have so much confidence in my athletes and especially when I watch her run. Looking back to this past weekend at the state tournament…you just know she’s going to do great things.

PRENTICE: You’ve probably lost count of how many personal bests and school bests and state bests… This is quite some athlete we’re talking to here.

OLSWANGER: Yeah, she continues to improve, which is the remarkable thing. A lot of high school kids don’t… sometimes when they’re younger. Rosina has been the opposite. She’s gotten better every single year. And she ended with two of her lifetime bests at the state meet.

PRENTICE: Let’s talk about college. You’re heading to Gonzaga, I hear.

MACHU: Yeah, I am. I’m super excited to go up there and turn a new page in the book, inside a new chapter and make a lot of new friends and learn many more things.

PRENTICE: Are you the first in your family to go to college?

OLSWANGER: I’m the first kid in my family to go to college and hopefully my younger siblings will follow me and go to college as well.

PRENTICE: Great. What do you want to do someday?

MACHU: I wanted to be a doctor. But then I started watching some medical shows like Grey’s Anatomy. You know what? Maybe not a doctor, like a surgeon…I’m not going to school for fifteen years. And then I got into law and criminal justice and I took a class here at Boise High School. And I really enjoyed it. And it opened up my eyes to criminal law and justice. So that’s one of the things I want to maybe major in, along with social work or psychology. I took a class in psychology at Boise High. And I really enjoyed that as well.

PRENTICE: I feel like tossing her the keys right now. It sounds like the world will be better off.

OLSWANGER: Yeah, she’ll have she’ll have some tremendous opportunities at Gonzaga.

PRENTICE: Congratulations on graduation… on everything that you’ve done at Boise High and everything you are about to do at Gonzaga. We can’t wait to read about all of your success there and hear about that. Coach, to you. Best of luck on another year, another season.

OLSWANGER: Thank you so much.

PRENTICE: Talk about class… the class of 2021.

MACHU: Thank you so much for this.

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Watch Athletics

Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay ran an amazing 29:39.42 10,000m debut on Saturday at the Fernanda Ribeiro Gold Gala in Portugal.

The world indoor 1500m record holder (3:53.09), ran 14:55 for the first 5000m and then accelerated to 14:49 for the second half to win the race in 29:39.42.

Behind Tsegay finished Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne who returned to racing since 2018 and amazingly clocked 29:50.77. Meanwhile, Uganda’s Doreen Chesang took third place in 32:09.82.

The 24-year-old, Gudaf became the first woman in history who in her 10000m debut broke the 30-minute barrier. Tsegay’s 29:39.42 puts her in fifth place on the world all-time list.

In the men’s 10000m race Kenya’s world championships bronze medallist Rhonex Kipruto clocked 27:11.01 for the win. He finished miles ahead of compatriot Shadrack Koech (27:59.19).

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FloTrack

Updated: February 24th,2021

Habitam Alemu drops an impressive 1:58​ at the 2021 World Athletics Indoor Tour Madrid Meeting.

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Related:

WATCH: 19-Year-Old Lemlem Hailu Beats World Champion In Fastest 3K of 2021

FloTrack

Feb 18, 2021

19-year-old Lemlem Hailu showed her Lievin victory wasn’t a fluke and sprinted away from steeplechase world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech on the final lap of the 2021 World Indoor Tour Torun Meeting in a 2021 world leading 8:31.24 3,000m.

Video: 19-Year-Old Lemlem Hailu Beats World Champion In Fastest 3K of 2021

Ethiopia’s Lemlem Hailu wins the 3,000m race at the 2021 World Athletics Indoor Tour in Torun, Poland, on Thursday, February 18, 2021. (FloTrack)

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Watch: Habitam Alemu dominated the women’s 800m | 2021 World Indoor Tour Torun

FloTrack

Feb 19, 2021

Habitam Alemu dominated the women’s 800m at the 2021 World Athletics Indoor Tour Torun Meeting. After going through the first 400m in 57.63, she finished in a meet record of 1:58​.19. It would have been an Ethiopian indoor record, had Gudaf Tsegay not ran 1:57​.52 a week earlier.

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The Associated Press

“You took us to the top of the world,” Argentine President Alfredo Fernández said on social media. “You made us incredibly happy. You were the greatest of all.”

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Diego Maradona, the Argentine soccer great who scored the “Hand of God” goal in 1986 and led his country to that year’s World Cup title before later struggling with cocaine use and obesity, has died. He was 60.

Maradona’s spokesman, Sebastián Sanchi, said he died Wednesday of a heart attack, two weeks after being released from a hospital in Buenos Aires following brain surgery.

The office of Argentina’s president said it will decree three days of national mourning, and the Argentine soccer association expressed its sorrow on Twitter.

One of the most famous moments in the history of the sport, the “Hand of God” goal, came when the diminutive Maradona punched the ball into England’s net during the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals. England said the ball went in off of Maradona’s hand, not his head. Maradona himself gave conflicting accounts of what had happened over the years, at one point attributing the goal to divine intervention, to “the hand of God.”

Ahead of his 60th birthday in October, Maradona told France Football magazine that it was his dream to “score another goal against the English, this time with the right hand.”

Maradona also captivated fans around the world over a two-decade career with a bewitching style of play that was all his own.

Although his reputation was tarnished by his addictions and an ill-fated spell in charge of the national team, he remained idolized in soccer-mad Argentina as the “Pibe de Oro” or “Golden Boy.”

“You took us to the top of the world,” Argentine President Alfredo Fernández said on social media. “You made us incredibly happy. You were the greatest of all.”

The No. 10 he wore on his jersey became synonymous with him, as it also had with Pelé, the Brazilian great with whom Maradona was regularly paired as the best of all time.

The Brazilian said in a statement he had lost “a dear friend.”

“There is much more to say, but for now may God give his family strength,” Pelé said. “One day, I hope, we will play soccer together in the sky.”

Bold, fast and utterly unpredictable, Maradona was a master of attack, juggling the ball easily from one foot to the other as he raced upfield. Dodging and weaving with his low center of gravity, he shrugged off countless rivals and often scored with a devastating left foot, his most powerful weapon.

“Everything he was thinking in his head, he made it happen with his feet,” said Salvatore Bagni, who played with Maradona at Italian club Napoli.

A ballooning waistline slowed Maradona’s explosive speed later in his career and by 1991 he was snared in his first doping scandal when he admitted to a cocaine habit that haunted him until he retired in 1997, at 37.

Hospitalized near death in 2000 and again in ’04 for heart problems blamed on cocaine, he later said he overcame the drug problem. Cocaine, he once said famously, had proven to be his “toughest rival.”

But more health problems followed, despite a 2005 gastric bypass that greatly trimmed his weight. Maradona was hospitalized in early 2007 for acute hepatitis that his doctor blamed on excessive drinking and eating.

He made an unlikely return to the national team in 2008 when he was appointed Argentina coach, but after a quarterfinal exit at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he was ousted — ultimately picking up another coaching job with the United Arab Emirates club Al Wasl.

Maradona was the fifth of eight children who grew up in a poor, gritty barrio on the Buenos Aires outskirts where he played a kind of dirt-patch soccer that launched many Argentines to international stardom.

None of them approached Maradona’s fame. In 2001, FIFA named Maradona one of the two greatest in the sport’s history, alongside Pelé.

AP photo

“Maradona inspires us,” said then-Argentina striker Carlos Tevez, explaining his country’s everyman fascination with Maradona at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. “He’s our idol, and an idol for the people.”

Maradona reaped titles at home and abroad, playing in the early 1980s for Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors before moving on to Spanish and Italian clubs. His crowning achievement came at the 1986 World Cup, captaining Argentina in its 3-2 win over West Germany in the final and decisive in a 2-1 victory against England in a feisty quarterfinal match.

Over the protests of England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, the referee let stand a goal by Maradona in which, as he admitted years later, he intentionally hit the ball with his hand in “a bit of mischief.”

But Maradona’s impact wouldn’t be confined to cheating. Four minutes later, he spectacularly weaved past four opponents from midfield to beat Shilton for what FIFA later declared the greatest goal in World Cup history.

Many Argentines saw the match as revenge for their country’s loss to Britain in the 1982 war over the Falkland Islands, which Argentines still claim as “Las Malvinas.”

“It was our way of recovering ‘Las Malvinas,’” Maradona wrote in his 2000 autobiography “I am Diego.”

“It was more than trying to win a game. We said the game had nothing to do with the war. But we knew that Argentines had died there, that they had killed them like birds. And this was our revenge. It was something bigger than us: We were defending our flag.”

It also was vindication for Maradona, who in what he later called “the greatest tragedy” of his career was cut from the squad of the 1978 World Cup — which Argentina won at home — because he was only 17.

Maradona said he was given a soccer ball soon after he could run.

“I was 3 years old and I slept hugging that ball all night,” he said.

At 10, Maradona gained fame by performing at halftime of professional matches, wowing crowds by keeping the ball airborne for minutes with his feet, chest and head. He also made his playing debut with the Argentinos Juniors youth team, leading a squad of mostly 14-year-olds through 136 unbeaten matches.

“To see him play was pure bliss, true stardom,” teammate Carlos Beltran said.

Argentine soccer superstar Diego Armando Maradona cheers after the Napoli team clinched its first Italian major league title in Naples, Italy, on May 10, 1987. Diego Maradona has died. The Argentine soccer great was among the best players ever and who led his country to the 1986 World Cup title before later struggling with cocaine use and obesity. He was 60. (AP Photo)

Maradona played from 1976-81 for first division club Argentinos Juniors, then went to Boca Juniors for a year before heading to Barcelona for a world-record $8 million.

In 1984, Barcelona sold him to Napoli, in Italy. He remade its fortunes almost single-handedly, taking it to the 1987 Italian league championship for its first title in 60 years.

A year after losing the 1990 World Cup final to West Germany, Maradona moved to Spanish club Sevilla, but his career was on the decline. He played five matches at Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys in 1994 before returning to Boca from 1995-97 — his final club and closest to his heart.

Drug problems overshadowed his final playing years.

Maradona failed a doping test in 1991 and was banned for 15 months, acknowledging his longtime cocaine addiction. He failed another doping test for stimulants and was thrown out of the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

In retirement, Maradona frequented Boca matches as a raucous one-man cheering section and took part in worldwide charity, sporting and exhibition events. But the already stocky forward quickly gained weight and was clearly short of breath as he huffed through friendly matches.

In 2000, in what doctors said was a brush with death, he was hospitalized in the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este with a heart that doctors said was pumping at less than half its capacity. Blood and urine samples turned up traces of cocaine.

After another emergency hospitalization in 2004, Maradona was counseled for drug abuse and in September of that year traveled to Cuba for treatment at Havana’s Center for Mental Health. There he was visited by his friend, Cuban President Fidel Castro.

In Cuba, Maradona took to playing golf and smoking cigars. He frequently praised Castro and Argentine-born revolutionary “Che” Guevara, who fought with Castro in the Cuban revolution — even sporting a tattoo of Guevara on his right arm.

Maradona said he got clean from drugs there and started a new chapter.

In 2005, he underwent gastric bypass in Colombia, shedding nearly 50 kilograms (more than 100 pounds) before appearing as host of a wildly popular Argentine television talk show. On “10’s Night,” Maradona headed around a ball with Pelé, interviewed boxer Mike Tyson and Hollywood celebrities, and taped a lengthy conversation with Castro in Cuba.

In retirement, Maradona also became more outspoken. He sniped frequently at former coaches, players — including Pelé — and the pope. He joined a left-wing protest train outside the Summit of the Americas in 2005, standing alongside Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to denounce the presence of then-President George W. Bush.

His outsider status made it all the more surprising when he was chosen as Argentina coach following Alfio Basile’s resignation.

He won his first three matches but his tactics, selection and attention to detail were all questioned after a 6-1 loss to Bolivia in World Cup qualifying equaled Argentina’s worst-ever margin of defeat.

Victor Hugo Morales, Argentina’s most popular soccer broadcaster, said Maradona will ultimately be remembered for a thrilling style of play that has never been duplicated.

“He has been one of the great artists of my time. Like great masters of music and painting, he has defied our intellect and enriched the human spirit,” Morales said. “Nobody has thrilled me more and left me in such awe as Diego.”

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Diego Maradona: Argentina legend’s career in pictures (BBC)

Diego Maradona – displaying the World Cup in 1986, during a training session, and with his ex-wife Claudia and their daughters Dalma and Gianina. (BBC)

Colourful doesn’t really do him justice. Diego Maradona was a genius on the football pitch and a controversial figure off it.

From his homeland of Argentina to success in Italy, World Cup glory and his drugs downfall, here’s a look at his life in photos.

Starting out: Maradona made his World Cup finals debut for Argentina at the 1982 tournament in Spain, but really made his mark four years later… (Getty Images)

Calm before the storm: Handshake with England goalkeeper Peter Shilton before the World Cup quarter-final in Mexico in 1986. (Getty Images)

Ridiculous to the sublime: The ‘Hand of God’ goal against England, followed by the ‘Goal of the Century’ (Getty Images)

World class: Maradona was named player of the tournament after inspiring Argentina to victory in 1986, and helped the side reach the final four years later. (BBC)

Read and see more photos at BBC.com »

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Reuters

Shura Kitata beats Vincent Kipchumba to win thrilling London Marathon

Ethiopian Shura Kitata outsprinted Kenya’s Vincent Kipchumba to win a thrilling London Marathon on Sunday as a stunned world record holder Eliud Kipchoge faded late in the race to suffer his first defeat since 2013.

In cold, wet conditions, 24-year-old Kitata edged clear in the final metres to win by one second over Kipchumba in a relatively slow two hours, 05.41 minutes.

Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia was third in 2:5.35, with Kipchoge, the hot favourite, who in his last race a year ago became the only man to break the two hour mark for the distance, eighth in 2:06.49 having suffered cramp and a blocked ear.

In the absence of injured Kenenisa Bekele, Kipchoge was widely expected to lift a fifth London crown but was never able to impose his usual speed in the relentless cold rain.

Shura Kitata overcame favourite Eliud Kipchoge to win the men’s London Marathon. (Reuters)

He was in a pack who went through halfway in just under 63 minutes — very pedestrian in relation to his recent races, not least his official world record of 2:01.39 set in Berlin two years ago.

Ethiopians Lemma and Tamirat Tola, both sporting woollen hats to stave off the cold, took up the running as the field began to realize that, perhaps, Kipchoge was struggling.

They were right. The favourite, whose face never usually gives any indication of suffering, was showing the occasional grimace and he lacked his usual smoothness.

At one point the leaders clocked a five minute mile, a virtual jog at elite level. Then, as never previously seen during his all-conquering career, Kipchoge, 35, broke, dropping back from a pack of six with just over three miles to go.

As the pace eventually picked up it was down to three, shoulder to shoulder, as they entered The Mall in a finish more like an 800m race than a marathon. The tall Kipchumba looked as if he would do it as he edged ahead, but Kitata fought back magnificently to take the tape.

Kitata, who finished second in London in 2018, thanked his missing compatriot for his victory. “Kenenisa Bekele was helping me for this race and he advised me how to run,” he said. “I trained for the same course, I am very happy to win.”

Kipchoge had won 12 of his 13 previous marathons – the blip being a second place behind a then-world record in his second outing over the distance in Berlin in 2013.

“I’m really disappointed, I had a problem with my right ear after it blocked, and then I really cramped and had problems with my hip from about the last 15 km,” he said.

“It’s really cold but I don’t blame the conditions and I’m still there to come back again.”

Earlier, Kenyan world record holder Brigid Kosgei was a comfortable winner of the women’s race in 2:18.58 as American Sara Hall produced a great finish to snatch second from Ruth Chepngetich.

The races, originally postponed from April because of the COVID-19 pandemic, were run over almost 20 laps of a fenced-off course in a “controlled secure biosphere” around St James’s Park.

Although there was no mass field this year, around 40,000 people are running the distance at venues of their choice through the day.

They will receive official finisher’s medals and raise millions of pounds for charities hard hit by the cancellation of the April race.

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Tadias Magazine

By Tadias Staff

Updated: August 26th, 2020

New York (TADIAS) — UK’s world-renowned soccer team Liverpool Football Club have signed an exciting up-and-coming talent by the name of Melkamu Frauendorf from Germany.

Melkamu, who was born in Ethiopia, first confirmed the news on Wednesday by changing his Instagram profile to indicate that he is headed to Liverpool, generating a social media buzz among soccer fans around the world.

According to The Liverpool Echo the team “have completed the signing of 16-year-old German youth international from Hoffenheim. The ECHO understands a deal was approved by the Football Association and Premier League inside the last two weeks. And the attacking midfielder has now penned a scholarship agreement at Anfield.”

Melkamu Frauendorf. (Getty Images)‘

The soccer news website HITC noted: Melkamu “was born in Ethiopia but represents Germany, with six caps to his name at Under-15 and Under-16 levels. Primarily an attacking midfielder, [Melkamu] has been backed for a bright future, and it seems that the teenager will now be calling Anfield home.”

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Reuters

The New York City Marathon, one of the most prestigious events on the global running calendar, has been cancelled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, race organisers said on Wednesday.

The New York Road Runners (NYRR), in partnership with the mayor’s office, said the decision to cancel the world’s largest marathon was made due to novel coronavirus-related health and safety concerns for runners, spectators, volunteers and staff.

The race was scheduled to take place on Nov. 1.

“Canceling this year’s TCS New York City Marathon is incredibly disappointing for everyone involved, but it was clearly the course we needed to follow from a health and safety perspective,” said NYRR Chief Executive Michael Capiraso.

The 26.2-mile race (42km), which traverses all five boroughs of the city, routinely attracts over 50,000 runners and more than one million spectators.

Former New York City Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi said the race held a special place in his heart and he was sad to hear that this year’s edition had been cancelled.

“These decisions are never easy, but keeping people healthy and safe is always the right call. I will see you in NYC for the 50th running in 2021!” Keflezighi said on Twitter.

Runners who signed up for this year’s marathon, which would have celebrated its 50th anniversary, can either receive a full refund or choose to run the race in any of the next three years.

“As the latest U.S. major on the calendar for the year, this one stings,” former Boston Marathon winner Des Linden wrote on Twitter.

“It also offers clarity for season goals and allows for patience and intelligence in mapping the way forward. It’s the right call.”

Of the six World Marathon Majors, three have been canceled this year due to the virus with the Boston Marathon and Berlin Marathon also opting to shelve plans for their 2020 races.

The Boston Marathon, originally due to be held in April and then postponed until September, was cancelled this year for the first time in its 124-year history.

The Tokyo Marathon went ahead on March 1 with elite runners only, London was postponed to Oct. 4 from April 26 and the Chicago Marathon is currently scheduled for Oct. 11.

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AP

By ELIAS MESERET

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Tirunesh Dibaba ran in an empty stadium and Kenenisa Bekele inside his own home as the former Olympic champions raised funds Saturday for Ethiopia’s fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

The Ethiopian athletes were joined by amateur runners from across the world. Participants ran on treadmills or on the spot inside their homes, or around their gardens.

The event was streamed live online and runners connected on Zoom, Facebook Live and YouTube in a virtual fundraiser.

Dibaba, who’s won three gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, ran at an empty National Stadium in Addis Ababa with sisters Genzebe and Ejegayehu, also top athletes. Bekele, also a three-time Olympic champion, ran inside his home with members of his family seen in the background on his video stream.

Organizers said money raised will be donated to two Ethiopia-based non-profit organizations that are helping the country’s efforts against the virus.

Grand African Run, an annual fun run usually held in the United States, and the Ethiopian Athletics Federation combined to organize the event. It attracted runners from across the globe, mostly Ethiopians. There was no specified distance or duration for the participants to run.

Derartu Tulu, the 1992 and 2000 Olympic champion in the 10,000 meters and the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold, also took part from her garden.

“I long for the day this pandemic is over and I run with you all,” she said. “I hope that won’t be too far away.”

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The Associated Press

Tokyo Olympics rescheduled for July 23-Aug. 8 in 2021

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympics will open next year in the same time slot scheduled for this year’s games.

Tokyo organizers said Monday the opening ceremony will take place on July 23, 2021 — almost exactly one year after the games were due to start this year.

“The schedule for the games is key to preparing for the games,” Tokyo organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said. “This will only accelerate our progress.”

Last week, the IOC and Japanese organizers postponed the Olympics until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This year’s games were scheduled to open on July 24 and close on Aug. 9. But the near exact one-year delay will see the rescheduled closing ceremony on Aug. 8.

There had been talk of switching the Olympics to spring, a move that would coincide with the blooming of Japan’s famous cherry blossoms. But it would also clash with European soccer and North American sports leagues.

Mori said a spring Olympics was considered but holding the games later gives more space to complete the many qualifying events that have been postponed by the virus outbreak.

“We wanted to have more room for the athletes to qualify,” Mori said.

After holding out for weeks, local organizers and the IOC last week postponed the Tokyo Games under pressure from athletes, national Olympic bodies and sports federations. It’s the first postponement in Olympic history, though there were several cancellations during wartime.

The Paralympics were rescheduled to Aug. 24-Sept. 5.

The new Olympic dates would conflict with the scheduled world championships in track and swimming, but those events are now expected to also be pushed back.

“The IOC has had close discussions with the relevant international federations,” organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto said. “I believe the IFs have accepted the games being held in the summer.”

Muto said the decision was made Monday and the IOC said it was supported by all the international sports federations and was based on three main considerations: to protect the health of athletes, to safeguard the interests of the athletes and Olympic sport, and the international sports calendar.

“These new dates give the health authorities and all involved in the organisation of the Games the maximum time to deal with the constantly changing landscape and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the IOC said. “The new dates … also have the added benefit that any disruption that the postponement will cause to the international sports calendar can be kept to a minimum, in the interests of the athletes and the IFs.”

Both Mori and Muto have said the cost of rescheduling the Olympics will be “massive” — local reports estimate billions of dollars — with most of the expenses borne by Japanese taxpayers.

Muto promised transparency in calculating the costs, and testing times deciding how they are divided up.

“Since it (the Olympics) were scheduled for this summer, all the venues had given up hosting any other events during this time, so how do we approach that?” Muto asked. “In addition, there will need to be guarantees when we book the new dates, and there is a possibility this will incur rent payments. So there will be costs incurred and we will need to consider them one by one. I think that will be the tougher process.”

Katsuhiro Miyamoto, an emeritus professor of sports economics at Kansai University, puts the costs as high as $4 billion. That would cover the price of maintaining stadiums, refitting them, paying rentals, penalties and other expenses.

Japan is officially spending $12.6 billion to organize the Olympics. However, an audit bureau of the Japanese government says the costs are twice that much. All of the spending is public money except $5.6 billion from a privately funded operating budget.

The Switzerland-based International Olympic Committee is contributing $1.3 billion, according to organizing committee documents. The IOC’s contribution goes into the operating budget.

IOC President Thomas Bach has repeatedly called the Tokyo Olympics the best prepared in history. However, Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso also termed them “cursed.” Aso competed in shooting in the 1976 Olympics, and was born in 1940.

The Olympics planned for 1940 in Tokyo were canceled because of World War II.

The run-up to the Olympics also saw IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda, who also headed the Japanese Olympic Committee, forced to resign last year amid a bribery scandal.

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AFP

LONDON — Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele broke Mo Farah’s course record as he won the London half-marathon on Sunday in a time of one hour and 22 seconds.

Bekele took 1min 18sec off the record set in 2019 by British distance great Farah, who missed this year’s edition with an Achilles injury.

Britain’s Christopher Thompson finished second, with Jake Smith third.

Sunday’s event served as a warm-up event for the full London Marathon on April 26. That race is set to see Bekele go up against Eliud Kipchoge, the reigning Olympic champion from Kenya, as the two fastest marathon runners of all time meet in the British capital.

“The new course record is a great bonus. I wasn’t focused on time today, I just wanted to win,” Bekele, three times an Olympic gold medallist on the track, told the BBC.

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Related:

The Vitality Big Half 2020: Kenenisa Bekele breaks Mo Farah’s course record (BBC)

Kenenisa Bekele to face Eliud Kipchoge in London Marathon for the ages (The Guardian)

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World Athletics

Ethiopian Runner Abadi Hadis Dies at 22

World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that Ethiopian distance runner Abadi Hadis died on Tuesday at the age of 22.

A regular competitor on the international track and road circuits, Hadis made his big breakthrough in 2016. Clocking PBs of 13:02.49 and 26:57.88, he was the fastest U20 athlete in the world that year at both 5000m and 10,000m. He also represented Ethiopia at the Olympic Games in Rio that year, finishing 15th in the 10,000m.

In 2017, while still a teenager, he finished third in the senior men’s race at the World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, leading Ethiopia to the team gold medal. He went on to finish seventh in the 10,000m at the World Championships in London later that year.

Hadis went on to record a 5000m PB of 12:56.27 in 2018 and followed it with a half marathon best of 58:44. He replicated that half marathon time at the start of 2019 and followed it with a 26:56.46 10,000m PB in Hengelo. His last competition was the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, where he exited in the heats of the 5000m.

He is one of just five men in history to have bettered 13 minutes for 5000m, 27 minutes for 10,000m and 59 minutes for the half marathon.

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The Guardian

Kenenisa Bekele to face Eliud Kipchoge in London Marathon for the ages

Kenenisa Bekele has agreed to race Eliud Kipchoge in a London Marathon for the ages in April – and said he is not surprised Mo Farah is swerving the race in favour of returning to the track.

Bekele, a three-time Olympic gold medallist who has won 17 world titles over cross-country, track and road, roared with laughter when asked what he thought of Farah’s decision to leave the marathon and then added: “I am not surprised. Of course if you see Mo Farah’s races in marathons, he’s struggling – it’s not easy to get good results over a marathon. You need experience. It’s a different course, a different racing mentality.

“But it is really hard for all of us. You need to learn how to run it and also the training is different. I think it’s harder, not only for Mo, but for all of us – even I struggled.”

However the Ethiopian, who ran the second fastest marathon time in history in Berlin in September, two seconds shy of Kipchoge’s official world record of 2hr 01min 39sec, said Farah is still good enough to win a medal in the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I’m sure we’ll see Mo doing better things on the track. If he focuses and concentrates like before I’m sure he will be in the medals in the 10,000. I’ve no doubt about that.”

Bekele still holds the 5,000m and 10,000m world records, which were set in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and insisted he was capable of claiming Kipchoge’s marathon best even at the age of 37.

“My training is going well and I feel well,” he said.“Before last year I was struggling with injury. Everyone knows I’m a strong athlete from 15 years on the track. When we came to the marathon I’ve struggled maybe to achieve good results but of course this is because of injury, not a lack of training or my personality. I was a bit behind but my health came back and now I’m doing a lot better in the marathon.”

Bekele also admitted the sight of his great Kenyan rival running a sub-two-hour marathon in Vienna in October, albeit in an event that was not recognised by World Athletics, has spurred him on.

Read more »

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The Washington Post

U.S. wins Women’s World Cup with 2-0 defeat of Netherlands

The United States remained supreme in women’s soccer Sunday, repeating as World Cup champions and winning for the fourth time by defeating the Netherlands, 2-0.

In the Americans’ most difficult test of the month-long competition, Megan Rapinoe converted a penalty kick in the 61st minute after video replay overruled the referee’s initial decision.

There was no controversy eight minutes later. Rose Lavelle, the Washington Spirit midfielder who at age 24 enjoyed a breakout tournament, doubled the lead with an assertive run and 17-yard shot before a pro-U.S. sellout crowd at Stade de Lyon.

This championship adds to a portfolio of glory featuring world crowns in 1991, ’99 and 2015, and Olympic gold medals in 1996, 2004, ’08 and ’12. Germany is the only other country to win multiple Women’s World Cups.

A victory parade is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday on the streets of Manhattan.

The Americans have won 13 straight matches and are unbeaten in 16 since losing a friendly at France in January.

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Watch: Fans in New York reacted to the U.S. women’s national soccer team beating the Netherlands in the World Cup on July 7. (The Washington Post)

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The New York Times

Olympic Athletes’ Feud Goes Public, With Claims of Hotel Theft and Gym Attack

They’re track-and-field legends who have competed around the world, at events including the Olympics and the London Marathon. They have run in stadiums packed with thousands of screaming fans, racing for medals and the glory of being crowned No. 1.

But an ugly feud between Mo Farah, a Somalia-born British runner, and his former childhood hero, Haile Gebrselassie, an Ethiopian runner who set 27 world records over his career, spilled into public this week.

According to news reports and the athletes’ public statements, the dispute revolves around claims of a theft, unpaid bills and an unprovoked violent attack. It all comes as Mr. Farah, the most successful British track athlete in history, is preparing to run the London Marathon on Sunday.

The public became aware of the simmering dispute during the final moments of a news conference in London on Wednesday, where Mr. Farah lit the fuse. As the event was wrapping up, he used his final few minutes onstage to reveal that although his marathon training had gone according to plan, he had been the victim of theft in a hotel outside of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he had spent the past few months training…

Mr. Gebrselassie, 46, once regarded as the world’s greatest distance runner, responded on the same day with equally sharp comments in a news release, threatening Mr. Farah, a four-time Olympic champion who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017, with legal action.

“It’s with deep sorrow,” he wrote, that he had learned of the comments made by Mr. Farah against him and his property. He also unleashed a litany of his own complaints about Mr. Farah’s stay at his hotel, claiming that Mr. Farah had left without paying a $3,000 service bill, had been the subject of “multiple reports of disgraceful conduct” and had been reported to the police for an attack on a man and a woman in the hotel’s gym.

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Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: March 3rd, 2019

New York (TADIAS) — Ethiopian women won the top three spots at the 2019 Tokyo Marathon on Sunday.

The Ethiopian sweep was led by Ruti Aga who finished first with a time of two hours, twenty minutes and 40 seconds. She was followed by her compatriots Helen Tola who came in second in 2:21:01 and Shure Demisse who was third in 2:21:05. According to the International Association of Athletics Federations “it was the first Ethiopian women’s 1-2-3 in the history of the Tokyo Marathon.” Reuters adds: “Ethiopians have now won the women’s marathon in Tokyo in six of the last eight editions.”

Ruti Aga crosses the finish line at the Tokyo Marathon (Getty Images)

“The conditions were poor and there was a lot of water on the roads,” Ruti told IAAF. “But it was still a good race.”

Below is the result of the women competition at the 2019 Tokyo Marathon:

1 Ruti Aga (ETH) 2:20:40
2 Helen Tola (ETH) 2:21:01
3 Shure Demise (ETH) 2:21:05
4 Florence Kiplagat (KEN) 2:21:50
5 Bedatu Hirpa (ETH) 2:23:43
6 Ababel Yeshaneh (ETH) 2:24:02
7 Mao Ichiyama (JPN) 2:24:33
8 Joan Chelimo Melly (KEN) 2:26:24
9 Rose Chelimo (BRN) 2:30:35
10 Ruth Chebitok (KEN) 2:31:19

Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese wins the men’s race at Tokyo marathon

Birhanu Legese wins the Tokyo marathon on Sunday March 3rd, 2019. (Getty Images)

Birhanu Legese of Ethiopia also won at the men’s marathon in Tokyo on Sunday, winning with a time of two hours, four minutes and 48 seconds. IAAF notes that Birhanu’s pace was the second-fastest winning time in the Japanese capital. “It is a good course,” Birhanu said. “Had the weather been better, I could have run 2:03.”

Highlighting Birhanu Legese’s achievement Reuters adds that “the 24-year-old was part of a small leading group for the first 30 kilometres before pulling away easily from runner-up Kenyan Bedan Karoki (2:06:48) and strolling to victory.”

Below is the men’s result at the 2019 Tokyo Marathon:

1 Birhanu Legesse (ETH) 2:04:48
2 Bedan Karoki (KEN) 2:06:48
3 Dickson Chumba (KEN) 2:08:44
4 Simon Kariuki (KEN) 2:09:41
5 Kensuke Horio (JPN) 2:10:21
6 Masato Imai (JPN) 2:10:30
7 Takuya Fujikawa (JPN) 2:10:35
8 Daichi Kamino (JPN) 2:11:05
9 Ryu Takaku (JPN) 2:11:49
10 Tadashi Isshiki (JPN) 2:12:21

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Reuters

Ethiopia’s triple Olympic track champion Kenenisa Bekele will race the London Marathon in April and line up alongside Briton Mo Farah and Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge for what promises to be a mouth-watering contest.

Bekele, 35, regarded by many as the greatest distance runner of all time and holder of the 5,000m and 10,000m world records, finished second in London last year and was third in 2016.

A pre-race favorite last year, Bekele had hoped to break Dennis Kimetto’s men’s world record of 2:02.57 but had trouble with blisters on his feet and crossed the finish line behind Kenya’s Daniel Wanjiru.

“I am thrilled to be returning to London for the third year in a row and would love to go one better than last year and win the race,” Bekele said in a statement.

“Once again London has brought the best distance runners in the world together so I know it will not be easy… I have been training very hard with the aim of arriving in London in April in the best possible condition.”

The trio of Bekele, Farah and Kipchoge have a combined total of eight Olympic gold medals and 12 world championship gold medals between them.

“This is a mouth-watering prospect,” said event director Hugh Brasher. “Sir Mo, Eliud and Kenenisa could all put forward a persuasive case for being the greatest of all time and now they meet for the first time over the marathon distance.”

The London Marathon will be held on April 22.

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BBC Sport

By Omna Taddele

Who is vying for control of the Ethiopia Football Federation?

Addis Ababa — On 13 January five men vie to become the next president of the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF).

Despite its place as one of the founding members of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and former Africa Cup of Nations winners Ethiopian football has struggled in recent years.

The five men hoping to change that are incumbent Juneidin Basha, former president Dr Ashebir Woldegiorgis, Teka Assefaw, Dagim Melashen and Esayas Jira.

The elections, which will also see a new executive voted in, had been due to take place on 10 November but were postponed in order for the candidates to be properly vetted.

Two former national team coaches, Sewnet Beshaw and Asrat Haile, are bidding for places on the executive committee.

Read more »

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IAAF

In Their Own Words: 2017 Female Athlete of the Year Nominees

The 10 nominees for the 2017 Female Athlete of the Year have been announced and the voting process is in full swing. We look at some of the words these superwomen used to describe their incredible accomplishments.

Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia)

After winning the 10,000m world title in a world-leading 30:16.32. She won silver over 5000m a few days later.

“I am very happy to win this title. Much more than when I won the Olympic gold, because I have been sick this year and didn’t expect it. In fact, this was my first race of 2017.”

Read more »

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Almaz Ayana celebrates winning the gold medal at the Rio Olympics 2016. (AP photo)

Tadias Magazine
Tadias Staff

October 4th, 2017

New York (TADIAS) — Olympian and World 10,000m champion Almaz Ayana has been nominated for the 2017 World Athlete of the Year award.

The Ethiopian long distance runner, who was also the winner of last year’s Female World Athlete of the Year prize, won the 10,000 metre race at this year’s World Championships held in London this past summer.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced that “a three-way voting process will determine the finalists. The IAAF Council will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the IAAF’s social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook and Twitter later this week; a ‘like’ or ‘favourite’ will count as one vote.”

IAAF adds: “Voting closes on 16 October. At the conclusion of the voting process, three men and three women finalists will be announced by the IAAF. The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the IAAF Athletics Awards 2017.”

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AP

BOSTON – Buzunesh Deba will leave the Boston Marathon with one champion’s medal this week.
She would like to make it two.

The 29-year-old Ethiopian inherited the 2014 title this December when Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo was stripped of her victory for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Jeptoo joins Rosie Ruiz, who was caught cutting the course in 1980, as the only people to be disqualified from the Boston Marathon after breaking the tape on Boylston Street.

“She took my chance,” Deba said this week after returning to Boston, where she has also finished third and seventh. “I lost so many things.”

When Ruiz took a shortcut to the finish line, she deprived Jacqueline Gareau of the thrill of breaking the tape , being crowned with the traditional olive wreath and hearing the Canadian national anthem waft over Copley Square. Race officials, who were immediately skeptical of the unknown and unseen Ruiz, made it up to Gareau with a substitute victory ceremony and even had her cross the finish line again – this time in street clothes.

But Gareau’s victory was in the race’s amateur era, so there was no cash to recover.

Jeptoo, whose 2006 and 2013 victories remain unchallenged, claimed $150,000 for the victory and an additional $25,000 for setting a course record. Both legally belong to Deba, whose time of 2 hours, 19 minutes, 59 seconds remains the fastest in Boston Marathon history, but the Boston Athletic Association would have to claw it back from Jeptoo.

“We are trying,” CEO Tom Grilk said.

In the year after the finish line explosions that killed three people and wounded hundreds more, Jeptoo herself was already an afterthought, coming in just minutes before Meb Keflezighi claimed the first American victory in the men’s race since 1983 . As “The Star-Spangled Banner” played over Boylston Street, Jeptoo’s third win – even in a course-record time – drew less attention than normal.

But for Deba, it was costly. All the after-the-fact ceremonies, medals and even the prize money – if she ever gets it – wouldn’t make up for the opportunities lost when she wasn’t able to capitalize on being a returning champion.

“When you are the champion, the next year, the appearance fees, the contracts, everything” is more lucrative, the two-time New York City Marathon runner-up said this week. “My happiness is that day. But she took it from me.”

Deba’s husband and coach, Worku Beyi, said they are talking to B.A.A. officials about the prize money, “but it is not 100 percent.” They are hoping Jeptoo will return the money.

“She knows herself she is not champion,” Beyi said.

Deba has a chance to steal back the spotlight on Monday, when she joins a field of more than 30,000 in Hopkinton for the 121st edition of the race. Among them are defending champion Atsede Baysa of Ethiopia; Kenya’s Gladys Cherono, who has the fastest time in the field; and two-time Olympian Desi Linden, who is trying to become the first American woman to win in Boston since 1985.

Read more »

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Related:
Ethiopia’s Lemi Berhanu Hayle Seeks a Boston Marathon Repeat

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International Association of Athletics Federations

Shura Kitata clocks second-fastest time in Rome while Rahma Tusa retains title

Shura Kitata recorded the second-fastest time ever witnessed at the Acea Rome Marathon while fellow Ethiopian and training partner Rahma Tusa successfully defended her title at the IAAF Silver Label Road Race on Sunday (2).

With rain falling heavily in the Italian capital, the men’s race set off at a quick pace. A quartet of pacemakers led the field through 5km in 14:49, 10km in 29:39 and 15km in 44:47 with the splits suggesting a sub-2:06 finishing time.

Seven men, not including the pacemakers, went through the half-way point in 1:03:25 and it appeared as though they still had a good chance of breaking the course record of 2:07:17 set in 2009 by Benjamin Kiptoo.

But the pace slipped after the last of the pacemakers dropped out at 30km. Four men – Kitata, fellow Ethiopians Werkunesh Seyoum and Solomon Lema, plus Kenya’s Dominic Ruto – were left in the lead pack at that point.

Lema was the next to drop behind while the three other men ran together for another five kilometres and reached 35km in 1:46:03, 2:07:51 pace. Kitata knew that if he was to break the course record, he couldn’t hang around any longer.

The 21-year-old Ethiopian pushed the pace and dropped his two remaining rivals, opening a gap of almost one minute over the course of five kilometres. Kitata saw the course record figures come and go on the clock before he reached the finish line but he still finished strongly to win in 2:07:30, taking more than a minute off the PB he set on his marathon debut in Shanghai in 2015.

“I am very happy with this victory, I was well trained and confident,” said Kitata, who trains alongside world marathon champion Mare Dibaba. “My coach Haji Adilo had told me that I could even run under 2:07, but my manager Hussein Makke told me that it was important to win…The pace was very fast until after the first half, then it is a bit slow,” he added. “At one point I decided to accelerate and it went well. In the end I tried to run as fast as possible to achieve the best time. It was not easy running in the rain.”

Read more at IAAF.org »

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LEADING RESULTS
Men
1 Shura Kitata (ETH) 2:07:30
2 Dominic Ruto (KEN) 2:09:10
3 Benjamin Bitok (KEN) 2:09:16
4 Mathew Kisaat (KEN) 2:09:19
5 Werkunesh Seyoum (ETH) 2:09:27
6 Solomon Lema (ETH) 2:12:18
7 Ahmed Nasef (ITA) 2:16:42
8 Carmine Buccilli (ITA) 2:19:35

Women
1 Rahma Tusa (ETH) 2:27:23
2 Mestawot Tadesse (ETH) 2:31:41
3 Abebe Tekulu (ETH) 2:32:08
4 Beatrice Cherop (KEN) 2:32:21
5 Halima Hussen (ETH) 2:35:01
6 Konjit Tilahun (ETH) 2:35:38
7 Wude Ayalew (ETH) 2:36:04
8 Meskerem Abera (ETH) 2:37:56

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Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Sunday, November 13th, 2016

New York (TADIAS) — Dadi Beyene and Bizuwork Getahun of Ethiopia took first place in the men’s and women’s category respectively at this year’s Richmond Marathon in Virginia on Saturday.

“Beyene finished three seconds ahead of Peter Limo, of Kenya,” reports The Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Bizuwork Getahun, also from Ethiopia, won the women’s marathon in 2:37:51.”

The Times-Dispatch adds: “The winners of the American Family Fitness half marathon this morning were Girma Gebre, of Ethiopia, for the men and Joan Aiyabei, of Kenya, for the women. Gebre ran the half marathon in 1:04:41; Aiyabei finished in 1:12:25.

Girma Gebre wins the Richmond Half- Marathon on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016. (Photo: TIMES-DISPATCH)

Read more at Richmond.com »

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IAAF

The women’s race saw Ethiopia’s Aberu Kebede take victory in commanding fashion, running 2:20:45 to come home more than three minutes clear of compatriot Birhane Dibaba.

Kebede, Dibaba and fellow Ethiopian Ruti Aga ran together through 10km in 33:12 and 15km in 49:40, but Kebede began to press on alone before halfway, which she reached in 1:09:27. From there, she extended her advantage all the way to the finish, coming home just 15 seconds shy of her personal best of 2:20:30.

“I’m very happy to have won here for the third time,” said Kebede. “It was a big ambition to break 2:20 and it still is. I hope to have another chance to achieve this in Berlin.”

With her third Berlin win after 2010 and 2012, Kebede joins the city’s record winners Uta Pippig (Germany) and Renata Kokowska (Poland). Birhane Dibaba (2:23:58) and Ruti Aga (2:24:41) made it an all-Ethiopian podium in Berlin.

41,283 runners from 122 countries entered the 43rd edition of the race, which is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

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Related:
Kenenisa Bekele Makes Triumphant Return to 2016 Berlin Marathon

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Newsweek

The Ethiopian Olympic medallist who publicly protested against the country’s government has arrived in the United States, where he reportedly hopes to claim asylum.

Feyisa Lilesa, who won the silver medal in the men’s marathon at the Rio 2016 Olympics, crossed his arms over his head as he finished the race. The gesture has become common among protesters in Oromia, a region of Ethiopia where hundreds of Oromo activists have been killed in recent months during clashes with security forces.

Lilesa repeated the gesture at a later press conference and during his medal ceremony, adding that he would likely be killed or imprisoned if he returned to the Horn of Africa country. Ethiopia’s information minister Getachew Reda told the BBC at the time that Lilesa would have nothing to fear if he returned home.

Feyisa Lilesa made the gesture as he crossed the line at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 21st. (Getty Images)

The runner has now reportedly arrived in the U.S. after previously stating that he would seek asylum in the country, the BBC reported on Friday. A crowdfunding campaign set up to fund Lilesa’s legal fees and support his family in Ethiopia has raised more than $160,000 in under three weeks after it was set up on August 21.

Read more at Newsweek.com »

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Washington Post Interview With Ethiopia’s Olympic Hero Feyisa Lilesa
From Rio to America: Olympian Feyisa Lilesa’s Washington Post Op-Ed
In Seattle, African Athletics Org Renames 5k Race ‘Feyisa Lilesa Heroic Run’
In Pictures: Feyisa Lilesa’s Daring Protest Reminiscent of 1968 Olympics
Over $100000 Raised For Ethiopian Olympian Runner
Medallist Feyisa Lilesa fails to return to Ethiopia after Olympics protest
Olympian Feyisa Lilesa Shows Solidarity With Protesters in Ethiopia at Rio Games
Ethiopia Says Protesting Marathoner to Be Welcomed as Hero, But Does He Want to Go?
Ethiopia ‘hero’ runner gets asylum donations after Oromo protest sign
Olympian Feyisa Lilesa Shows Solidarity With Protesters in Ethiopia at Rio Games »
Ethiopia Olympian Feyisa Lilesa Protests Government With Marathon Medal
Ethiopian Marathoner’s Protest Puts Him at Odds With His Government
Ethiopian runner makes protest sign as he crosses line in Rio
Rio 2016 Olympics: Genzebe Dibaba Takes Silver Medal in the Women’s 1,500 Meters
Rio 2016 Olympics: Etenesh Diro Advances to 3,000-Meter Steeplechase With 1 Shoe
Ethiopia’s First Gold at Rio Olympics: Almaz Ayana Smashes 10,000m Record
Ethiopia’s Olympic Swimmer Robel Kiros: Body Shaming & Questions of Nepotism
All Eyes on Brazil as 2016 Olympics Starts

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Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Saturday, July 16th, 2016

New York (TADIAS) — Ethiopia’s long-distance team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which is set to kick-off in Brazil next month, includes 24-year-old Almaz Ayana who is aiming to score a double victory in the 5000m and 10000m following in the footsteps of Tirunesh Dibaba’s historic win in both fields at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“Ayana tops the world lists at both distances this year, having run 14:12.59 for 5000m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome and 30:07.00 for 10,000m in Hengelo last month,” according to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

“Reigning Olympic 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba is slated to compete solely over that distance in Rio, though is also listed as a reserve for the 5,000m,” IAAF reports. “The 30-year-old will be seeking her fourth Olympic gold medal in Rio, though has competed sparingly so far this year. In her only outing over 5000m, Dibaba clocked 14:41.73 at a small meeting in Kortrijk, Belgium last weekend, and in her sole 10,000m race she finished third in the Ethiopian trial race in Hengelo in 30:28.53.”

IAAF adds: “Genzebe Dibaba will narrow her focus and compete over 1500m, the event at which she holds the world record at 3:50.07. The reigning world champion clocked 3:59.83 in her sole outing at that distance in Barcelona last weekend. Dejen Gebremeskel, the silver medallist over 5000m at the London 2012 Olympic Games, will bid to go one better over the same distance in Rio and will be joined by Muktar Edris and Hagos Gebrhiwet. Another looking to go one better in Rio will be Sofia Assefa, the 3000m steeplechase silver medallist at the 2012 Games, though the 28-year-old has a best of just 9:18.16 this year. Former world champion Mohammed Aman is the sole Ethiopian entrant in the men’s 800m and will be looking to win his first Olympic medal, having finished sixth in the 800m final four years ago.”

Read more at IAAF.org »

ETHIOPIAN TEAM FOR RIO (INCLUDING RESERVES)
MEN
800m: Mohammed Aman
5000m: Muktar Edris, Dejen Gebremeskel, Hagos Gebrhiwet, (Abadi Hadis)
10,000m: Yigrem Demelash, Abadi Hadis, Tamirat Tola, (Ibrahim Jeilan)
Marathon: Tesfaye Abera, Lemi Berhanu, Feyisa Lelisa, (Lelisa Desisa)
3000m steeplechase: Hailemariyam Amare, Chala Beyo, Tafese Seboka, (Birhan Getahun)

WOMEN
800m: Habitam Alemu, Tigist Assefa, Gudaf Tsegay
1500m: Genzebe Dibaba, Besu Sado, Dawit Seyaum, (Gudaf Tsegay)
5000m: Almaz Ayana, Senbere Teferi, Ababel Yeshaneh, (Tirunesh Dibaba)
10,000m: Almaz Ayana, Gelete Burka, Tirunesh Dibaba, (Netsanet Gudeta)
Marathon: Mare Dibaba, Tirfi Tsegaye, Tigist Tufa, (Aberu Kebede)
3000m steeplechase: Sofia Assefa, Hiwot Ayalew, Etenesh Diro, (Weynshet Ansa)
20km race walk: Yehualeye Beletew, Askale Tiksa

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Related:
Ethiopia: Kenenisa Bekele Among Greatest Olympic Athletes of all Time (TADIAS)
Rio 2016 Olympic Games Athletics Statistics Handbook (IAAF)

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RFI

Ethiopia has been sending cyclists to the Olympic Games since the 1950s but has never sent a rider to the Tour de France. Until now. Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay is competing this year before racing in the Brazil Olympics next month.

“I’m so excited because I’ve never done this race,” he says with less than 24 hours to the first stage. “For me the Tour de France is not just about finishing 21 stages. It’s about doing something special. I’m ready to do something in this tour.

“I’m ready to fight.”

He’s riding in the Italian team Lampre-Merida that includes the powerful Rui Costa and the young South African Louis Meintjes. The squad will be chasing stage wins and a good showing in the general classification.

Tsgabu Grmay has been spoken about as one of the top cyclists from Africa for some time. Before he turned 20 he took a fifth place at the Tour of Rwanda. In 2013 he was fifth in Gabon’s prestigious Tropicale Amissa Bongo and he picked up a stage win and a second place overall in the Tour of Taiwan…

Tsgabu comes from Ethiopia’s northern highlands. The air is thin in his hometown of Mekele, which sits at over 2000m. He returns often from the Lampre Merida base in Italy and trains in the roads around Mekele. He only has enough paved road for three hours on the bike. After that he has to ride the same roads again.

There are more good young riders coming up in Ethiopia, he says. “They can see the possibility now.”

Although it was not easy to watch European cycling six or seven years ago in Mekele, he says, now there are plenty of free-to-view satellite channels that show the big Tours.

This means Ethiopia will be watching Tsgabu as the Tour rolls round France.

Read the full article at RFI »

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Reuters

LONDON – Ehtiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele won the 10km Great Manchester Run on Sunday before expressing his frustration at being overlooked by his country’s selectors for the Olympic Games in Rio.

The three-times Olympic champion finished the Manchester race ahead of Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang in 28 minutes and eight seconds.

Bekele, who returned from a long period out with injury to finish third in last month’s London Marathon, is only a reserve for Ethiopia’s marathon team for Brazil and has virtually ruled out trying to make the track team.

After Sunday’s race, which he also won in 2014, he expressed his displeasure at being overlooked for the Olympics.

“I’m not happy about that…there is no-one better than me in the marathon in Ethiopia,” he said.

Read more »

DIBABA BEGINS COMEBACK WITH A THIRD VICTORY IN MANCHESTER 10K (IAAF)

Tirunesh Dibaba wins the 2016 Great Manchester Run. (Photo: IAAF)

IAAF

Tirunesh Dibaba made a winning return to competition after a two year hiatus and she also created a small piece of history by becoming the first woman to claim three victories in the Great Manchester Run, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, on Sunday (22).

Keen to blow away the cobwebs in her first race back, Dibaba unusually took up the lead just before the two kilometre mark – a position which she barely yielded for the remainder of her comeback race.

Edna Kiplagat and early leader Diane Nukuri followed in Dibaba’s slipstream through 5km in 15:45 but Nukuri – the multiple national record-holder for Burundi on the track and road – began to lose ground after Dibaba inserted a 3:04 split for the sixth kilometre.

The order remained the same through the eight kilometre mark in 25:03 and for a short while, an upset appeared to be on the cards. Kiplagat moved into the lead for the first time while Dibaba was looking laboured.

But Dibaba stayed in contact before striking the front with about 600 metres remaining. It might not have been a vintage showing but the world 5000m record-holder proved she is likely to be a force this summer on the basis of her victory this morning in 31:16 to move to third on the 2016 world lists.

“I felt a bit nervous [before the race] but I’m happy with my result,” said Dibaba, who clocked 15:31 for the second half. “I did not expect this time; I just wanted to win. I didn’t know what was going to happen and I had no clue about the time.”

Dibaba will turn her focus back to the track with the foremost goal of sealing the qualifying time over 10,000m for the Olympic Games.

“I don’t know exactly where or when I will be running but I expect to run it within a month,” said Dibaba, who hasn’t decided if she will run any shorter races to sharpen up.

While there was a considerable degree of uncertainty in regards to the selection criteria for the Ethiopian marathon team, Dibaba more or less knows what she has to do to gain a place on her fourth Olympic team this summer

Read more at IAAF.org »

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Related:
All-time great Kenenisa Bekele snubbed from Ethiopian Olympic marathon team

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USA TODAY

April 18, 2016

Ethiopian runners sweep men’s, women’s titles at Boston Marathon

BOSTON — Atsede Baysa only appeared to drop out of contention in the hills outside of the city.

She was actually just being patient.

Baysa rallied from a deficit of 37 seconds with 4 miles to go, catching up to the leaders and cruising past them to lead a sweep for Ethiopia in the Boston Marathon on Monday.

“I was feeling the strength coming from the lead group, but I know my pace,” Baysa said through an interpreter. “When I pace, I know I can beat them. So I moved, caught them and pushed the pace at the end.”

Did she ever. Baysa leaped from nowhere in sight to striding all alone down Boylston Street and finished with a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes and 19 seconds.

Tirfi Tsegaye of Ethiopia was second (2:30:03) and Joyce Chepkirui of Kenya took third (2:30:50).

In the men’s race, Lemi Berhanu Hayle broke away from defending champion Lelisa Desisa over the final mile to claim his first marathon title and complete the first sweep for Ethiopian runners in the Boston Marathon. Runners from the same country hadn’t won both the women’s and men’s crowns since Kenya’s Sharon Cherop and Wesley Korir in 2012.

Baysa’s win was the biggest surprise, especially considering the wide gap between her and three runners more than half a minute ahead around the 22-mile mark.

Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia leads Lemi Berhanu Hayle of Ethiopia along the course. (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)

Read the full article at USATODAY.com »

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