Tokyo Marathon: Takele and Kebede complete Ethiopian sweep
Tadese Takele clocks a world-leading 2:03:23 for his first major victory, while Sutume Kebede becomes the first woman to win the title twice.
8850 Media
Ethiopian runners dominated the streets of Tokyo on Sunday as Tadese Takele clinched his first major marathon win, while Sutume Kebede defended her title in a new record timing at the Tokyo Marathon. Takele, third in Berlin last year, clocked a world-leading 2:03:23—one second faster than his previous best—to win by 28 seconds over fellow Ethiopian Deresa Geleta. Vincent Kipkemoi of Kenya took third in 2:04:00.
Kebede, last year’s champion, ran 2:16:31 to become the first woman to win the race twice. She finished ahead of Kenya’s Winfridah Moraa Moseti (2:16:56) and compatriot Hawi Feysa (2:17:00), marking an incredibly competitive women’s podium.
Ideal race conditions at the start turned warmer as the event progressed. Both elite fields set a fast early pace—men hitting 5km in 14:23, women in 15:33.
Benson Kipruto led the men’s pack early on, while Joshua Cheptegei, a 5000m and 10,000m world record-holder, sat in the second group.
“The weather wasn’t a problem, it wasn’t too hot and for me it was comfortable,” Takele said on the sunny conditions, talking to reporters after the race. “The course was good and this was a great day for me. In the future, I hope to run even better than I did today.”
By 30km, Takele, Geleta, and Kipkemoi had pulled ahead. At 38km, Takele surged, dropping his rivals and sealing victory unchallenged. Kipruto finished seventh in 2:05:46 while Cheptegei was ninth in 2:05:59, a three-minute improvement on his time from Valencia.
In the women’s race, Kebede set out at an ambitious 2:12 marathon pace but slowed after halfway (1:06:20). Despite this, she remained unchallenged after 30km, finishing comfortably in 2:16:31.
Behind her, Moseti was running a much more evenly paced race and she closed on Kebede to finish 25 seconds behind the winner. The Bangsaen21 Half Marathon winner passed 10km in 32:24 and halfway in 1:08:23 – two minutes behind leader Kebede.
Moseti and Feysa ran together during the second half of the race and reached 40km in 2:09:57 before Moseti had the stronger finish to clinch the runner-up spot, four seconds ahead of Feysa.
Meanwhile, Paula Radcliffe, 51, completed her first competitive race in a decade, finishing in 2:57:26. The former world record-holder ran 2:15:25 at her peak in 2003.
With inputs from the worldathletics.org
Top 10 Results:
Women
1. Sutume Kebede (ETH) 2:16:31
2. Winfridah Moraa Moseti (KEN) 2:16:56
3. Hawi Feysa (ETH) 2:17:00
4. Magdalyne Masai (KEN) 2:19:28
5. Rosemary Wanjiru (KEN) 2:19:57
6. Desi Jisa Mokonin (BRN) 2:20:07
7. Gotytom Gebreslase (ETH) 2:20:25
8. Degitu Azimeraw (ETH) 2:20:26
9. Zhang Deshun (CHN) 2:20:53
10. Jessica Stenson (AUS) 2:22:56
Men
1. Tadese Takele (ETH) 2:03:23
2. Deresa Geleta (ETH) 2:03:51
3. Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich (KEN) 2:04:00
4. Titus Kipruto (KEN) 2:05:34
5. Mulugeta Asefa Uma (ETH) 2:05:46
6. Geoffrey Toroitich (KEN) 2:05:46
7. Benson Kipruto (KEN) 2:05:46
8. Suldan Hassan (SWE) 2:05:57
9. Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) 2:05:59
10. Tsubasa Ichiyama (JPN) 2:06:00
Source: Worth Athletics
