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Yalemzerf Yehualaw storms to 2022 London Marathon victory

Ethiopia's Yehaulaw, 23, ran a blistering 2:17:26 after falling earlier in the race

Yehaulaw London Marathon winner Photo by: Instagram/Yalemzerf Yehaulaw

The last few kilometres of the 2022 London Marathon saw a full-throttle push to the finish from Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw, 23, with no competition in sight.

In only her second marathon, Yehualaw recovered from a fall in the latter half of the race and charged ahead to finish in a blistering 2:17:26, placing her seventh on the women’s all-time list. Yehualaw was followed by defending champion Joyciline Jepkosgei in 2:18:07. Ethiopia’s Alemu Megertu rounded out the podium, running a PB in 2:18:32.

Yehaulaw London Marathon champ
Photo: Instagram/TCS London Marathon

Yeahualaw was a favourite heading into the race, having previously held the half-marathon world record. The athlete ran the fastest debut marathon in women’s history, clocking 2:17:23 at Hamburg in April. She ran undefeated in her last four road races and reached the podium in her previous seven; Yehualaw is also the 10K road race world record holder, in 30:20.77.

yalemzerf yehualaw
Photo: James Rhodes

The women went through the halfway mark in 68:46, and the lead pack was seven women strong at 30 km, but shortly thereafter, Ashete Bekere and Joan Melly dropped off the back, followed by Sutume Asefe Kebede, leaving Yehualaw, Jepkosgei, Judith Korir and Megertu. After a strong acceleration in the final 5K, Yehualaw dropped Jepkosgei, hitting the 40 km mark with almost a minute’s lead.

With the end of the race in sight, Yehualaw once again accelerated, finishing shy of the women’s-only course record of 2:17:01, set in 2017 by Mary Keitany. Third place Megertu, 24, won the Seville Marathon in February in a PB of 2:18:51. Like Yehaulaw, this was only Megertu’s second marathon. 

Yehaulaw is part of the NN Running Team, (world-record holder Eliud Kipchoge and 10,000m world record holder Letesenbet Gidey being the team’s most notable members). With two incredibly well-performed marathons under her belt, fans will be eagerly anticipating Yehaulaw’s next appearance on the world stage.

Amos Korir dominates the men’s race

Kenya’s Amos Korir dropped his competition one by one on his way to the win, in 2:04:38. Neither Kenenisa BekeleBerhanu Legese, defending champion Sisay Lemma (all of Ethiopia) nor several others were unable to match his closing speed; Leul Gebrsilasie of the UK finished second, in 2:05:12, and Olympic and world bronze medallist and European record holder Bashir Abdi of Belgium was third, in 2:05:19.

Wheelchair course records go down

The men’s wheelchair race was a duel between defending champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland and the American, Daniel Romanchuk. Hug managed to come out on top once again, smashing the course record; his compatriot Catherine Debrunner did the same on the women’s side, only a week after her victory at the Berlin Marathon. The UK’s David Weir, 43, was third, in his 23rd consecutive London Marathon.

Top women’s results

Yalemzerf Yehualaw 2:17:25
Joyciline Jepkosgei 2:18:07
Alemu Megertu 2:18:32
Judith Korir 2:18:43
Joan Chelimo Melly 2:19:27
Ashete Bekere 2:19:30
Mary Ngugi 2:20:22
Sutume Asefa Kebede 2:20:44

For full results of all races you can head here.

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