Ethiopian distance runners dominated the C&D Xiamen Marathon 2026 on Sunday (11), with pre-race favorites Dawit Wolde and Ruti Aga both winning their second straight titles at the World Athletics Platinum Label event in China.
Wolde’s win came down to the final stretch, as he edged out fellow Ethiopians in a thrilling finish. The 34-year-old crossed in 2:09:18, just two seconds ahead of Hailemaryam Kiros and four seconds in front of Addisu Gobena, giving Ethiopia a clean sweep of the men’s podium.
The defending champion took a different approach this year compared to his course record run of 2:06:06 in 2025. Instead of chasing fast times, Wolde, who has a personal best of 2:03:48 and owns seven career marathon times faster than 2:10, focused entirely on defending his title.
“What I wanted to do this year is just to keep my title, not to break my course record, so I had no reason to push it early,” said Wolde on the World Athletics website. “This year, when I came as the defending champion, I put a lot of pressure on me. I did it, so I’m happy.”
Wolde noted that course adjustments, including removing a late U-turn, made the race smoother in the closing kilometers.
China’s Yang Shaohui, the national record-holder, finished as the top local athlete in sixth place with a time of 2:11:14. He stayed with the leaders for over 30 kilometers before the Ethiopian runners pulled away.
In the women’s race, Ruti Aga controlled the competition from start to finish, winning in 2:22:45. Her winning time in 2025 was 2:18:46. Aga’s compatriots Meseret Abebayehu and Fikrte Wereta rounded out the podium in 2:25:15 and 2:25:31, respectively.
The 31-year-old 2012 World Junior 5000m silver medalist revealed that her strategy differed significantly from last year’s race-winning performance. This time, she ran more conservatively with the official pacers instead of bringing her own.
“Last year I brought my personal pacer here, so I was pushing from the beginning,” said Aga. “This year, I was running with the official pacers and some of [the] male athletes. I was just concentrating on winning. I’m so happy to defend the title here in Xiamen.”
Chinese runner Li Meizhen finished fifth overall, setting a personal best of 2:27:24.
C&D Xiamen Marathon 2026 Results
Xiamen, China
January 11, 2026
Men’s Marathon
- Dawit Wolde, Ethiopia, 2:09:18
- Hailemaryam Kiros, Ethiopia, 2:09:20
- Addisu Gobena, Ethiopia, 2:09:22
- Ablelom Maryo, Eritrea, 2:09:39
- Asefa Mengstu, Ethiopia, 2:09:58
- Shaohui Yang, China, 2:11:14
- Boaz Kipkemei, Kenya, 2:11:46
- Ren Qingdongzhibu, China, 2:12:19
- Dalin Li, China, 2:13:24
- Enock Onchari, Kenya, 2:14:25
- Yue Hong, China, 2:15:19
- Fei Su, China, 2:15:37
- Zhengyue Li, China, 2:16:27
- Yingcai Liu, China, 2:18:56
- Guohu Zhao, China, 2:18:57
- Weikang Cui, China, 2:19:51
- Liyan Hou, China, 2:21:18
- Youfa Zhou, China, 2:21:30
- Jilin Shi, China, 2:21:50
- Huawei Chen, China, 2:22:39
- Tao Wang, China, 2:22:43
- Yelaman Sailamuhan, China, 2:22:44
- Shunhu Liao, China, 2:24:23
- Changrong Zhu, China, 2:24:44
- Shun Dong, China, 2:24:46
- Fuguo Liu, China, 2:25:14
- Jiangcheng Xu, China, 2:25:28
- Renwei Huang, China, 2:26:20
- Yongkun Zhang, China, 2:26:54
- Haoran Wu, China, 2:27:24
Women’s Marathon
- Ruti Aga, Ethiopia, 2:22:45
- Meseret Abebayahau, Ethiopia, 2:25:15
- Fikrte Wereta, Ethiopia, 2:25:31
- Mercy Jerop Kwambai, Kenya, 2:27:22
- Meizhen Li, China, 2:27:24
- Helah Jelagat Kiprop, Kenya, 2:28:53
- Ying Lu, China, 2:29:17
- Bingjie Xu, China, 2:32:30
- Cuomu Ciren, China, 2:34:01
- Xuemei Huang, China, 2:35:24
- Ting Yin, China, 2:38:20
- Laga Tong, China, 2:39:47
- Hao Zhou, China, 2:41:15
- Junting Yang, China, 2:46:12
- Xinyan Zhang, China, 2:47:48
- Pingping Ao, China, 2:48:35
- Guangxia Fang, China, 2:48:53
- Fei Huang, China, 2:50:39
- Zhifang Gan, China, 2:51:14
- Chaochao Wu, China, 2:51:24
- Chunyue Ma, China, 2:52:42
- Xiaofen Tang, China, 2:53:00
- Fengying Cao, China, 2:54:47
- Ni Zhang, China, 2:54:52
- Xuemei Zeng, China, 2:55:04
- Xiaomei Wu, China, 2:55:06
- Weina Qin, China, 2:55:06
- Xiaolan Zhang, China, 2:55:23
- Yimei Chi, China, 2:55:35
- Yanting Zhang, China, 2:56:20
Did not finish: Megertu Alemu, Ethiopia; Stacey Chepkemboi Ndiwa, Kenya
