Kenenisa Bekele to race Berlin Marathon
This will mark Bekele's first marathon since dropping from last year's Amsterdam Marathon with less than two kilometres to go
The BMW Berlin Marathon has announced that multi-Olympic medallist, world champion and world record-holder Kenenisa Bekele will return to the race on September 29 for the first time since his 2016 victory there, when he ran his personal best of 2:03:03.
.@KenenisaBekele has joined the elite field of the #BerlinMarathon, organizers announced today. The race will take place on 29 September.
?by @JaneMonti1 for Race Results Weekly #RRW pic.twitter.com/8r1JiLz5pP
— David Monti (@d9monti) September 3, 2019
Berlin will mark Bekele’s first marathon since the Amsterdam Marathon last October, when he dropped out with less than two kilometres left in the race.
RELATED: What happened to Kenenisa Bekele in Amsterdam?
Bekele has three Olympic gold medals and a total of 17 world championship titles, including indoor, outdoor and cross country. He has held the world records in the 5,000m (12:37.35) since 2004 and the 10,000m (26:17.53) since 2005.
The Ethiopian set a course record of 2:05:04 at his first marathon, in Paris in 2014.
Fellow Ethiopians Guye Adola, Leul Gebrselassie, Sisay Lemma and Birhanu Legese will also race Berlin this month.
The women’s race in Berlin is shaping up to be an exciting one also, with defending champion Gladys Cherono (who has won this marathon three times) facing fellow Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot, winner of the 2018 London Marathon, who will be making her first appearance at Berlin. Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia, bronze medallist in the 2016 Olympic marathon and 2015 world champion, is also in the mix.
RELATED: Vivian Cheruiyot to run Berlin Marathon for the first time
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