Chelangat smashes personal best to win Barcelona Marathon

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Uganda’s Abel Chelangat delivered a superb performance to win the men’s race at the Barcelona Marathon on Sunday, clocking an impressive 2:04:57.
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‎Chelangat produced a strong finishing kick to edge Kenya’s Patrick Mosin in a thrilling contest that was decided in the closing kilometres of the race.
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‎The Ugandan and Mosin had broken away from the rest of the field earlier and ran stride for stride for much of the latter stages. By the 40km mark, the pair were still locked together, passing the point in 1:58:40.
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‎However, Chelangat made his decisive move at a water station shortly afterwards. With the race clock approaching two hours, the Ugandan surged ahead and quickly opened a gap that Mosin could not close.
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‎Running confidently in the final stretch, Chelangat crossed the finish line unchallenged to secure victory in 2:04:57, just four seconds ahead of Mosin who finished second in 2:05:01.
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‎Kenya’s Jonathan Samanayo Korir completed the podium in third place with a time of 2:05:29.
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‎In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Fotyen Tesfay produced a remarkable marathon debut, winning in 2:10:53 to record the second-fastest women’s marathon time in history and the fastest marathon debut ever.
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‎Tesfay finished well ahead of Kenya’s Joan Jepkosgei Kiplimo, who took second place in 2:18:42, while Ethiopia’s Zeineba Yimer was third in 2:18:49.