Sutume Asefa Kebede of Ethiopia pulled off a surprise victory and set a new course record at the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday.
The World Athletics Platinum Label road race saw Kebede cross the finish line first in an impressive 2:15:55, breaking the previous record of 2:16:02 set just last year by Brigid Kosgei.
The 29-year-old Kebede secured a convincing win over a stacked field of competitors.
She finished ahead of Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru (2:16:14) and Ethiopia’s world champion Amane Beriso (2:16:58) who rounded out the podium positions.
Kebede’s winning time now moves her up to 8th place on the all-time women’s marathon list, a significant achievement.
Early on in the race, seven women including Kebede, Wanjiru, Beriso, Sifan Hassan, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Betsy Saina and Buzunesh Getachew ran together alongside male runners, reaching 15km in 48:38.
By the 30km mark, it was clear the podium spots would go to Wanjiru, Kebede and Beriso as they hit the milestone in 1:36:43. Over the final kilometers, Kebede managed to pull away from Wanjiru to convincingly take the victory.
