Ethiopia's Guye Adola won the men's Berlin Marathon on Sunday with compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, a two-time former winner in Germany's capital, finishing third as his bid to break the world record fell short.
Bekele, the 2016 and 2019 winner in Berlin, had been attempting to break his personal best when he came within two agonising seconds of Kipchoge's time two years ago, but ended up settling for third as he finished one minute, two seconds behind Adola.
The race over 42.195 kilometres (26.2 miles) through the streets of Berlin was the first of the world's major six marathons to take place with elite athletes and a mass field of runners, estimated at around 25,000, since the Covid-19 pandemic. The lead pack, spearheaded by Bekele, set off at a lightning speed, 25 seconds under Kipchoge's world record pace after 15kms.
Bekele dropped back from the lead pack, but still stayed on course to run a new world record through the halfway stage.
Nine months after suffering from Covid-19, Bekele, who turns 40 next June, was disappointed with his time, but had no thoughts of retiring. "The big problem for me was the lack of training because of the pandemic," said Bekele, one of the greatest distance runners of all time, having won world and Olympic gold medals over both 5,000 metres and 10,000m. I wanted to do well in Berlin, but I just couldn't do as well as I hoped; this does not mean my career is over." Said Bekele.
Ethiopian runners swept the podium in the women's race as Gebreslase won on her debut over the marathon distance. The 26-year-old won in two hours, 20 minutes, nine seconds and led a clean sweep for the Ethiopians on the podium as Hiwot Gebrekidan took second, one minute, 14 seconds behind, with third place going to Helen Tola at two minutes, 56 seconds back. Adola, 30, celebrated the first major marathon win of his career having finished second to Kipchoge in Berlin four years ago on his debut over the distance.