Ethiopian runner loses championship after falling ahead of goal

On the Hamburg run on April 23, Mesfin took the lead, leaving the group behind for more than a minute. But just past the 42km mark, the Ethiopian female runner seemed to be exhausted, fell to her knees and took a few seconds to get up to continue competing.

Taking advantage of the opponent's downfall, Dorcas Tuitoek took the lead, gaining an advantage in the last 200 meters, and then finished first at 2:20:9 seconds. This 25-year-old Kenyan improved by nearly 5 minutes in the 2021 Valencia Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 54 seconds.

Mesfin held the second place with 2 hours 20 minutes 18 seconds, while Chesang finished third with 2 hours 20 minutes 23 seconds.

Mesfin failed to achieve the goal set before the tournament, which was to break the Hamburg Marathon record with a time of 2 hours 17 minutes 23 seconds set by compatriot Yalemzerf Yehualaw in 2022. Mesfin's PB was 2 hours 18 minutes 48 seconds at the Valencia Marathon in May. 12/2022.

But according to Canadian Running Magazine, if Mesfin did not stumble before the finish line, it would be difficult for Mesfin to break Yehualaw's record with the last nearly 200 meters.

After the win, Tuitoek said she was surprised when she finished first and didn't see Mesfin fall because she was "completely focused on herself". The Kenyan runner claims to have enough energy left in the sprint and knows she can finish the race in about 2 hours and 20 minutes.

In the men's event, there are three Kenyan athletes present on the podium. Bernard Koech finished first with a time of 2 hours 4 minutes 9 seconds. Joshua Belet finished second with 2 hours 4 minutes 33 seconds, and Martin Kosgei finished Hamburg Marathon 2023 in 2 hours 6 minutes 18 seconds. Daniel Do Nascimento - the Brazilian runner who led the New York Marathon in the first 30km before collapsing on the run - finished fourth in Hamburg with 2 hours 7 minutes 6 seconds.

The Hamburg Marathon is an annual marathon held in the city of Hamburg, Germany. The tournament was born in 1986 with about 8,000 participants. This is one of Germany's largest long-distance races with a total of 15,174 athletes participating in 2010. The record for the number of athletes participating in the tournament was set in 2005, with 17,502 completing a distance of 42,195 km.

In the men's event, Kenyan athlete CyBrian Kotut set a record with 2 hours 4 minutes 47 seconds in 2022. Legendary Eliud Kipchoge won the 2013 Hamburg Marathon in 2 hours 5 minutes 30 seconds.