Course record-holders Sisay Lemma, Amane Beriso return to Valencia

Addis Ababa, November 19, 2024 (FBC) — Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma and Amane Beriso will head back to the Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso Zurich on 1 December and attempt to improve on their respective course records at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race.

Lemma’s 2:01:48, set last year, and Beriso’s 2:14:58 run from 2022 stand as the sixth-fastest performances of all time.

Since his Valencia triumph last year, Lemma went on to take the Boston Marathon title earlier this year in 2:06:17, winning by 41 seconds.

He’ll be joined in Valencia by three-time Olympic gold medallist and five-time world champion Kenenisa Bekele. The Ethiopian, who has a PB of 2:01:41, is the fastest man in the field and sits at third on the world all-time list, one place ahead of Lemma.

Bekele finished fourth in Valencia last year, then placed second at this year’s London Marathon before going on to represent Ethiopia at the Olympics in Paris.

Three other Ethiopian men with sub-2:04 PBs will be in Valencia: two-time Tokyo Marathon champion Birhanu Legese, 2021 Berlin Marathon winner Guye Adola, and Paris Olympics fifth-place finisher Deresa Geleta.

Much of the focus will be on some of the athletes who’ll be making their marathon debuts in Valencia.

World half marathon champion Sebastien Sawe has contested nine half marathons to date, all of them comfortably inside 60 minutes and topped by his PB of 58:02. World half marathon silver medallist Daniel Mateiko is similarly consistent at the 13.1-mile distance, having bettered 59 minutes on seven occasions. Hillary Kipkoech, a 59:22 half marathon performer, was one of Lemma’s pacemakers in 2023, but this year is entered as a contender in his own right.

Meanwhile, Amane Beriso hit the headlines in Valencia two years ago when she won in a course record of 2:14:58, which at the time was the third-fastest performance in history. She went on to win the world title in Budapest in 2023, then placed third at this year’s Tokyo Marathon in 2:16:58 before finishing fifth at the Olympic Games in Paris.

She’ll be joined in Valencia by three compatriots who’ve bettered 2:19: London and Chicago podium finisher Megertu Alemu, 2023 Valencia third-place finisher Hiwot Gebrekidan, and Tiruye Mesfin.