Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese, Ashete Bekere head Amsterdam Marathon fields

Addis Ababa, October 14, 2023 (FBC) – Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese is tipped to clock fast times at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, while his compatriot Ashete Bekere is on the hunt for “something special” in the women’s podium at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on Sunday 15 November.

Strong fields have been assembled for the event in the Dutch capital, with Berhanu and Kenya’s Bernard Koech among the nine sub-2:05 men in the field and Ashete Bekere joined by her fellow sub-2:19 runner Tiruye Mesfin as well as four other athletes who have dipped under 2:23.

Ethiopia’s Birhanu is a two-time Tokyo Marathon winner and the 29-year-old will aim to return to winning ways in Amsterdam after being unable to finish his last marathon in London in April. He demonstrated his form with a half marathon PB of 58:59 in Barcelona in the lead up to that race in the UK capital and his marathon PB of 2:02:48, set when finishing second in Berlin in 2019, makes him the fourth-fastest marathon runner of all time.

That lifetime best means Birhanu Legese is the quickest in the field by more than a minute and he hopes to make his mark ahead of next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

“I really want to run a fast time, with an eye on the Olympics,” he said at the pre-event press conference.

There will, however, be a number of athletes who will be ready to challenge if Birhanu is not quite at his best. Kenya’s Koech is also looking to attack the course record of 2:03:39 and he has the benefit of experience.

Ethiopia’s Lemi Berhanu Hayle, the 2016 Boston Marathon winner, also has a PB of 2:04:33 to his name from seven years ago, while their fellow sub-2:05 athletes are Hailemaryam Kiros (2:04:41), Asrar Hiyrden (2:04:43), Cybrian Kotut (2:04:47), Barselius Kipyego (2:04:48) and Bazezew Asmare (2:04:57), who finished third in Amsterdam last year.

Other Ethiopian athletes who made the cut include Bazezew Asmare (2:04:57), Adeledelew Mamo (2:05:12), Shifera Tamru (2:05:18), Haymanot Alew (2:05:57), Samuel Tsegay (2:06:53), and Gizealew Ayana (2:07:15)

In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Ashete Bekere will be looking to add another success to a CV that includes wins in Berlin, Valencia and Rotterdam during her 12-year marathon career.

The 35-year-old set her PB of 2:17:58 when finishing second in Tokyo last year and she also has a 2:18:18 performance from London in 2021, when she placed third. Her Berlin Marathon victory was claimed in 2019 and she also secured a major marathon podium place earlier this year, finishing third in Tokyo.

She makes her debut at the Amsterdam Marathon, where the course record is 2:17:20 set by Almaz Ayana last year.

“If all conditions cooperate, I want to show something special,” Ashete said.

She goes up against her compatriot Tiruye Mesfin, who ran her PB of 2:18:47 when finishing sixth in Valencia in December. The 21-year-old finished second in Hamburg in April, running 2:20:18, and she will be racing her third career marathon in Amsterdam. She ran a half marathon PB of 1:06:31 in Lisbon in March.

Kenya’s Dorcas Tuitoek, who won the Hamburg Marathon in a PB of 2:20:09 ahead of Tiruye Mesfin earlier this year, will hope to challenge, as will Ethiopia’s Sisay Meseret Gola, who set her PB of 2:20:50 when finishing second in the 2022 Seville Marathon. The 25-year-old also finished fifth in that year’s Berlin Marathon and was runner-up in the Osaka Women’s Marathon in January.

The field also features Ethiopia’s Atalel Anmut and Kenya’s Marion Kibor, plus Linet Masai, Kenya’s 2009 world 10,000m champion, who ran her marathon PB of 2:23:46 in Amsterdam in 2018. Ethiopia’s Sofia Assefa, who claimed 3000m steeplechase silver at the London 2012 Olympics, is set to make her marathon debut.