Kiplimo wins Bahrain Night Half-Marathon

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Kenya’s Philemon Kiplimo was last night crowned the overall winner of the Bahrain Royal Night Half-Marathon 2021, while Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase claimed first place among the women.

The prestigious World Athletics Label Road Race took place along a 21.1-kilometre course in Zallaq in chilly, winter conditions, with the start and finish at the Bahrain International Endurance Village.

 In attendance was Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) president His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who presented the prizes to the winners.

Kiplimo lived up to his tag as one of the pre-race favourites as he powered to first place in a blistering time of 59 minutes 59 seconds.

He led an all-Kenyan trio in the final classification as well as in the men’s category but needed a strong finishing kick to beat out Collins Koros and Mathew Kimeli to the tape. Koros had a time of exactly one hour, while Kimeli followed at 1:00:02.

Titus Mbishei of Kenya finished fourth in 1:00:23, while countryman Geoffrey Koech was fifth in 1:00:24.

Jemel Yimer of Ethiopia was classified sixth in 1:00:29, and he was followed by Albert Rop, who was the top Bahraini in seventh with a time of 1:01:31.

Haftu Teklu of Ethiopia was eighth in 1:01:39, while Boki Diribi of Ethiopia came ninth overall and amateur athlete Samir Jouaher from Morocco beat out several elite professionals to claim 10th overall.

In the women’s category, Gotytom narrowly beat out Bahrain’s Tokyo Olympics silver-medallist Kalkidan Gezahegne for the top spot.

Gotytom had a finishing time of 1:05:34, while Kalkidan followed just 13 seconds behind.

Sheila Kiprotich of Kenya took third amongst the women in 1:07:00.

Irene Cheptai of Kenya was fourth in 1:07:01, while Daisy Cherotich, also Kenyan, was fifth in 1:07:10.

Sixth through 10th, respectively, were Hawi Feysa of Ethiopia, Betty Chepkemoi and Bosena Mulatie of Kenya, Ethiopian Dawit Seyaum and Kenyan Purity Komen.

Each of the top 10 in the men and the women took home prize money, with the winners claiming US $30,000, the runners-up taking home U.S.$20,000 and third-placers winning the US $15,000.

The Bahrain Royal Night Half-Marathon is the biggest event of its distance in the world, according to the 2019 World Athletics ranking competition.

This year’s event was organised by the Bahrain Athletics Association (BAA), and sanctioned by World Athletics, the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, and the BAA, with the support of the Asian Athletics Association and the Bahrain Olympic Committee.

The sponsors included Tamkeen, the Bahrain Economic Development Board, Ahli United Bank, Bapco, Al Salam Bank, Aluminium Bahrain and Mohammed Jalal and Sons