Ethiopian runner Sisay Lemma claimed his first world marathon major by winning the men’s London Marathon in 2:04:01 in London, England, on Sunday.
It was Lemma’s first win in nine attempts at a marathon major and also saw him improve on his seventh and third place finishes at this event in 2016 and 2020 respectively.
The 30-year-old finished ahead of Kenya’s Vincent Kipchumba (2:04:28) and compatriot Mosinet Geremew (2:04:41).
Defending champion Shuran Kitata, who last year stunned marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge to win the race, finished in sixth place in 2:07:51.
Kipchoge opted to skip this year’s event to recover from his participation at the Tokyo Olympics where he defended the gold medal he won in Rio in 2016 thereby becoming just the third man in history to defend a men’s marathon title.
Kitata, on the other hand, had already lowered expectations about his performance after he revealed in his pre-race press conference that he had suffered a hamstring injury two weeks before the Olympic marathon. That injury resulted in him dropping out after less than 10km.
(Story compiled with assistance from wire reports)
