SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, August 31 — The 23rd running of the Sydney Marathon was something special as the 42.2K legacy to the 2000 Olympic competition became the seventh member of the Abbott World Marathon Majors series. Ethiopian Hailemaryam Kiros and Paris Olympic champion Sifan Hassan claimed the inaugural wins.
Seizing an opportunity to make history, Hassan passed on her sixth straight World Championships to race here instead and then passed former World Record holder Brigid Kosgei at 35K before pulling away to a 34-second victory margin in 2:18:22.
“It’s history,” the 32-year-old Hassan exclaimed. “It’s the first major marathon in Sydney and I’m really grateful to run a course record and win.”
Kosgei crossed in 2:18:56, her tenth career sub-2:20 spanning 8 consecutive years dating back to 2017. Defending champ and course record-holder Workenesh Edesa finished 3rd in 2:22:15.
Kiros sprinted away from 20-year-old countryman Addisu Gobena in the final 800 to close out his course record win in 2:06:06. Gobena crossed 2nd in 2:06:16, with Lethoso’s Tebello Ramakongoana 3rd in 2:06:45.
World Record-setter and 2-time Olympic champ Eliud Kipchoge completed his sixth different WMM race with a very solid 2:08:31 9th-place finish.
Initially contested in April 2000 as a test run for the Sydney Olympic Marathon, the course follows a complex route winding through a relentless series of steep climbs and descents. It’s a doozy with a bridge crossing like NYC, more turns than London — including a Tokyo-style U-turn at the end of a long out-and-back boulevard stretch — and it’s hillier than Boston.
Compared to the other majors, Sydney sits on the challenging end of the spectrum with NYC and Boston, and like Boston it is neither record-conducive nor record eligible with elevation gain of 313m yet a net 1.97m per K elevation loss.
As the first Southern Hemisphere Major, Sydney’s late August date falls at the end of winter. It might as well have been the first day of spring as the event was gifted a near perfect blue-sky day with light winds and race-ready temperatures and dew point.
Setting off at dawn, the lead group of 3 pacers and 9 racers latched onto the prescribed 3:00 per kilometer clip, passing 10K in 30:04 and 20K in 60:29. Kipchoge led the way…
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