Belet leads Kenyan podium sweep at Amsterdam Marathon

Kenya’s Joshua Belet clocked 2:04:08 to lead compatriots Cyprian Kotut (2:04:34) and Bethwell Chumba (2:04:37) to a podium sweep at the Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday.

Ethiopia’s Meseret Belete claimed victory in the women’s race after clocking a new personal best of 2:18:21 with compatriot Meseret Abebayehu (2:19:50) coming home second while Kenya’s Dorcas Tuitoek settled for a third-place finish in 2:20:02

In the men’s race, a large lead pack covered the opening 5km in 14:54, then sped up to reach 10km in 29:28 and 15km in 44:03. The pack still contained about 12 men as they passed through 20km (58:48) and the half-way point (1:02:01), which was 10 seconds quicker than Tamirat Tola achieved when he set the course record of 2:03:39 in 2021.

The lead pack started to whittle down gradually in the second half. After going through 30km in 1:28:28, Belet made his move and opened up a gap on the rest of the field, one he wouldn’t relinquish.

There were several changes of position among the athletes in the chase pack in the final kilometres, but Belet held on to his lead and went on to win in 2:04:18. Fellow Kenyan Cybrian Kotut came through to take second place in 2:04:34, finishing just three seconds ahead of Bethwel Chumba, who completed the all-Kenyan podium. Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese was a close fourth in 2:04:44.

Belet bounced back from his World Championships withdrawal to record a PB, improving on the 2:04:33 he clocked when finishing second in Hamburg in April.

Meanwhile, Belete smashed her PB by more than two minutes and notched up her second victory of the year, having won in Doha back in January in 2:20:46, her previous lifetime best.

 Women

1 Meseret Belete (ETH) 2:18:21

2 Meseret Abebayehu (ETH) 2:19:50

3 Dorcas Tuitoek (KEN) 2:20:02

4 Ashete Bekere (ETH) 2:21:51

5 Tiruye Mesfin (ETH) 2:22:07

6 Anchalem Haymanot (ETH) 2:22:23

7 Meseret Gola (ETH) 2:22:29

8 Sofia Assefa (ETH) 2:23:33

9 Marion Kibor (KEN) 2:24:26

10 Anne Luijten (NED) 2:26:36

 Men

1 Joshua Belet (KEN) 2:04:18

2 Cybrian Kotut (KEN) 2:04:34

3 Bethwel Chumba (KEN) 2:04:37

4 Birhanu Legese (ETH) 2:04:44

5 Lemi Berhanu (ETH) 2:05:48

6 Bazezew Asmare (ETH) 2:06:34

7 Mulugeta Debasu (ETH) 2:06:36

8 Haymanot Alew (ETH) 2:08:25

9 Khalid Choukoud (NED) 2:08:36

10 Abderrazak Charik (FRA) 2:08:37