MADRID, 19 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Bahraini Marius Kimutai and the Ethiopian Zeineba Yimer Worku have been proclaimed winners of the 44th edition of the Zurich Marató Barcelona, which took place this Sunday in the Catalan capital and in which both broke the race record.
Kimutai, born in Kenya, stopped the clock in 2:05:06, establishing the best world mark of the year and lowering the record of the Barcelona event (2:05:53, established in 2022 by the Ethiopian Yihunilgne Adame). Together with Kaan Kigen Ozbilen of Turkey and Othmane El Goumri of Morocco, he passed the half marathon almost half a minute short of the record.
The Ottoman was left off the hook at kilometer 38 and just two kilometers later Kimutai launched the final attack to be left alone and entered the finish line with six seconds ahead of El Goumri. Kaan Kigen Ozbilen completed the podium with a time of 2:05:37.
In the women’s category, the Ethiopian Zeineba Yimer Worku smashed the test record in more than three minutes by reaching the finish line and stopping the clock in 2:19:44 (compared to the 2:23:09 set as a record by her compatriot Meseret Gebre last year).
Thus, he also achieved the second best world record of the year and the best in Spain in 2023. The Kenyan Selly Chepyego finished second (2:20:04), while the Romanian Delvine Meringor (2:20:48) occupied the third position .