Kiprotich Shs41m richer for podium finish at Hamburg
Stephen Kiprotich
What you need to know:
- Mutai’s PB of 2:08:25 when he came third at the Vienna Marathon in Austria on April 7 completes the best three times made by a Ugandan male marathoner in the Doha qualification period from March 7, 2018 to September 6, 2019.
- Chemonges’ best time however during this spell was 2:09:05 when he won the Porto Marathon on November 8, 2018.
Kampala. For the third year running, Stephen Kiprotich continued his trend of making the top-five finishes at the Hamburg Marathon in Germany.
Yesterday, the Uganda national record holder braved the rain in the early stages before enduring a wet tarmac to finish third.
Kiprotich posted a time of two hours, eight minutes and 32 seconds behind the Ethiopian pair of Tadu Abate and Ayele Abshero at the event’s 34th edition. Abate reached the 42km race tape first in 2:08:26 and the more experienced Abshero was a second behind.
The 2012 Olympic marathon champion Kiprotich, who finished fifth last year and second in 2017 at Hamburg, pocketed 10000 Euros (Shs41m) for his finish this time.
His compatriot Robert Chemonges posted 2:10:00 in sixth position for 1000 Euros (Shs4.1m).
The two Ugandans’ performances do not cause any shift in placements in the race for places to the Doha World Championships due September 27 - October 6.
Uganda has three Marathon quota places available and according to Uganda Athletics Federation’s permutations based on best times, Fred Musobo, Kiprotich and Solomon Mutai will tentatively be Doha.
Musobo’s personal best (PB) of 2:06:56 set when he took second place at the Darby Marathon on April 7 is the lead time while Kiprotich’s 2:07:57 posted in fifth place at Hamburg last year comes second.
Mutai’s PB of 2:08:25 when he came third at the Vienna Marathon in Austria on April 7 completes the best three times made by a Ugandan male marathoner in the Doha qualification period from March 7, 2018 to September 6, 2019.
Chemonges’ best time however during this spell was 2:09:05 when he won the Porto Marathon on November 8, 2018. He can get a ticket to Doha if one of Musobo, Kiprotich or Mutai are unavailable or if he unlikely runs under 2:08:25 in a race before Doha. The Hamburg Marathon event was globally overshadowed by the more lucrative London Marathon won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, arguably the best marathoner ever.
HAMBURG MARATHON
MEN’S RESULTS
1. Tadu Abate (ETH) 2:08:26
2. Ayele Abshero (ETH) 2:08:27
3. Stephen Kiprotich (UGA) 2:08:32
6. Robert Chemonges (UGA) 2:10:00
