Sports

Kenyan runners sweep Boston Marathon on 10th anniversary of bombing

Published

1 year ago

April 18, 2023

Kenyan athletes, Evans Chebet and Hellen Obiri, on Monday, made a clean sweep at the Boston Marathon on the 10th anniversary of a bombing at the races that killed three people and wounded hundreds more in 2013.

Chebet who is the defending champion in the male event, won a time of 2:05:54 in a strong field that included world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge, Gabriel Geay of Tanzania, who took second, and 2021 winner, Benson Kipruto of Kenya, who finished third, among the top stars on parade.

The 38-year-old Kipchoge, a 12-time major marathon winner who was hoping to add a Boston Marathon victory to his unprecedented running resume, fell to the sixth position.

Kipchoge, who has won two Olympic gold medals and four of the six major marathons, and was competing in Boston for the first time, said after the race:

“It’s never guaranteed, it’s never easy. Today was a tough day for me. I pushed myself as hard as I could, but sometimes, we must accept that today wasn’t the day to push the barrier to a greater height”.

“I live for the moments where I get to challenge the limits,” Kipchoge added in a statement distributed by the race organizers.

In the women’s race, Hellen Obiri, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 5,000m, won in a sprint to finish in an unofficial 2:21:38 and complete the Kenyan sweep.

The memorial Boston Marathon, for the first time, included a nonbinary division, with 27 athletes registered.

A dozen former champions and participants from 120 countries and all 50 US states were in the field of 30,000, in a race that also included 264 members of the One Fund community made up of those injured by the 2013 attack, their friends and family and charities associated with them.

As part of the anniversary celebrations, a robotic dog named Stompy belonging to the Department of Homeland Security patrolled the start line before the race began, trailed by photographers capturing the peculiar sight.

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Sports

Egyptian midfielder Elneny announces departure from Arsenal after eight years

Published

17 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Egypt and Arsenal midfielder, Mohamed Elneny, has announced his departure from the club at the end of this season after eight years at the North London club.

Elneny who made the announcement in a video on Friday, said he will depart the club following the expiration of his contract.

Elneny joined Arsenal from Swiss side Basel in 2016 and made 161 appearances but in the last two seasons, the Egyptian midfielder has struggled for playing time due to a combination of injuries and loss of form.

In 2019, under former manager Unai Emery, he was loaned out to Besiktas for the 2019-20 campaign, where he played 36 times for the Turkish side.

Upon returning to Arsenal, he found a more prominent role under new manager Mikel Arteta.

Elneny’s contract was due to expire at the end of last season, but Arsenal opted to extend it by an additional year. With this extension now coming to an end, it has been widely reported that the 31-year-old will leave the club this summer.

In the video on X, Elneny said:

“Gooners, I’m here today to send you a message. To say goodbye and thank you for everything you’ve done for me, the love, the support, and the kindness. I am really going to miss you so much and you will be in my heart forever.

“I wanted to say how much I love you and how much you mean to me. I will never forget the way you supported me. I am going to see you on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium to say goodbye face to face.”

He added that he would bid farewell to fans at the Emirates on Sunday as Arsenal host Everton in their final league match.

Though Elneny did not say where he would go after leaving Arsenal, it is believed he will be heading to the Saudi Arabian league to join a horde of elite players who have made the Saudi League the new football haven.

Sports

Ethiopian marathon legend Bekele returns to Olympics after 12-year absence

Published

2 days ago

May 17, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

After a 12-year absence on the international race circuit, Ethiopian marathon legend, Kenenisa Bekele, has announced that he will return for the 2024 Olympic Games in July after he was named in a 10-member team on Thursday.

The 41-year-old Bekele last competed in the London Games in 2012 when he finished fourth in the men’s 10,000m before he was overlooked for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

His surprise return to the Ethiopian team came after a remarkable second-place finish at the London Marathon in April which was enough to earn him a place for the Paris Olympics in a squad which also features women’s world record holder Tigist Assefa.

In his heydays, Bekele won three Olympic golds in the 5,000m and 10,000m, and is now expected to renew his rivalry with reigning Olympic champion and former world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya who was also named in the Kenyan team.

In August 2003, Kipchoge dusted his Ethiopian rival when the two met for the first time at the Paris World Championships, holding on to win the 5,000m race, pipping Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj into second place while Bekele finished third.

Bekele made his marathon debut in April 2014 when he produced the sixth-fastest run over the distance in Paris but his career has been hampered by injuries.

Other members of the Ethiopian men’s team for the Olympics are Sisay Lemma, the Valencia marathon champion, and Deresa Geleta, while 2023 New York marathon champion and 2022 world champion Tamirat Tola and Eusedin Mohammed, are standby reserves.