(Oct. 15) — Kenya’s Joshua Belet and Ethiopia’s Meseret Belete and were the surprised stars of the 2023 TCS Amsterdam Marathon, each delivering performances that were quite impressive in the wet conditions. The World Athletics Platinum Label road race saw Belete and Belet clocking the third-fastest winning times ever recorded in the Dutch capital, according to World Athletics.
In the women’s contest, Meseret Belete, who won in Doha at the start of this year, shattered her personal best by more than two minutes, finishing the race in an impressive 2:18:21 to leave the favorites well behind. She maintained a consistent pace throughout the race, eventually pulling away from her closest competitors to win by a margin of 89 seconds.
Read more: Results: Daniel Ebenyo and Almaz Ayana Win 2023 Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon
Finishing behind Belete was her Ethiopian compatriot Meseret Abebayehu, who smashed her life time best by more than four minutes when running 2:19:50 for second place. Dorcas Tuitoek of Kenya placed third in 2:20:02.
In the meantime, Joshua Belet stunned the TCS Amsterdam Marathon 2023 race favorites to win his first major marathon title in the wet conditions on Sunday.
The 25-year-old who finished second in Hamburg earlier this year before his World Championships withdrawal, bounced back today when he accelerated from the pack after the halfway mark and maintained his pace to cross the finish line at the iconic Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam in a time of 2:04:18, setting a new personal best for the victory in his third-ever marathon.
Read more: Lauren Hagans to make marathon debut at 2023 Grandma’s Marathon
Cybrian Kotut and Bethwel Chumba completed the all-Kenyan podium, finishing in 2:04:34 and 2:04:37, respectively.
The race also saw Dutch runner Anne Luijten securing her spot for Paris 2024 Olympics after meeting the standard with a time of 2:26:35 in 10th place.
TCS Amsterdam Marathon 2023 Results – Top 10
Women Results:
- Meseret Belete (ETH) – 2:18:21
- Meseret Abebayehu (ETH) – 2:19:50
- Dorcas Tuitoek (KEN) – 2:20:02
- Ashete Bekere (ETH) – 2:21:51
- Tiruye Mesfin (ETH) – 2:22:07
- Anchalem Haymanot (ETH) – 2:22:23
- Meseret Gola (ETH) – 2:22:29
- Sofia Assefa (ETH) – 2:23:33
- Marion Kibor (KEN) – 2:24:26
- Anne Luijten (NED) – 2:26:36
Men Results:
- Joshua Belet (KEN) – 2:04:18
- Cybrian Kotut (KEN) – 2:04:34
- Bethwel Chumba (KEN) – 2:04:37
- Birhanu Legese (ETH) – 2:04:44
- Lemi Berhanu (ETH) – 2:05:48
- Bazezew Asmare (ETH) – 2:06:34
- Mulugeta Debasu (ETH) – 2:06:36
- Haymanot Alew (ETH) – 2:08:25
- Khalid Choukoud (NED) – 2:08:36
- Abderrazak Charik (FRA) – 2:08:37
