Uganda’s star athlete Stephen Kiprotich on Sunday finished third in the 2019 Hamburg Marathon in Germany.
Kiprotich who won gold at both the 2012 London Summer Olympics and 2013 World Championships clocked 02:08:31 to make third.The Ethiopian duo of Tadu Abate and Ayele Abshero finished first and second clocking 2:08:26 and 2:08:27 respectively.
“We are happy that Stephen finished among the top three. This is a good start of the season for him,” Dominc Otuchet, president of the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) said.
Uganda’s Robert Chemonges in the same race finished 6th in 2:10:00. This earned him Euros 1,000 (about sh4.18m) in prize money from the Euros 300,000 (about sh1.25b) set aside for elite runners while Kiprotich bagged Euros 15,000 (about sh62.62m) for his resilient performance.
In the women’s race, Uganda’s Linet Toroitich finished 8th in 2:32:05. Ethiopia’s Dibabe Kuma finished first in 2:24:42, Kenya’s Magdalyne Masai came second in 2:26:04 and Tanzania’s Failuna Matanga came third in 2:27:56.
In London, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge was unstoppable as he ran the second fastest marathon in history in 2:02:37 which was only 59 seconds short of his world record standing at 2:01:39.
The 34 years old becomes the first man to win four London Marathons. Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew finished second in 2:02:55 and Mule Wasihun also from Ethiopia came third in 2:03:16 in the 42.195km race.
In the women’s race, Kenya’s Brigid finished first in 2:18:20 and becomes the youngest female London marathon winner at 25 years.
Defending Champion Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot came second in 2:20:14 and Roza Dereje of Ethiopia came third in 2:50:51.
