At the women’s marathon held at Tokyo’s National Stadium, Peres Jepchirchir claimed the gold medal.
In the final moments of the race, the Kenyan athlete produced a brilliant sprint to overtake Tigst Assefa.
Jepchirchir finished the race in 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 43 seconds. Ethiopian runner Tigst Assefa crossed the line just two seconds behind her.
The bronze medal went to Julia Paternain of Uruguay, who clocked 2:27:23. This result marked Uruguay’s first-ever medal in the history of the World Championships.
After her victory, Jepchirchir said:
“I am so happy with what I have achieved in Tokyo. The weather was very hot, very tough… When I entered the stadium, I received a lot of energy from the fans. I really did not expect to win. It was not my plan to sprint in the final metres, but when I saw I was 100 metres from the finish, I just went for it.”
For the first 90 minutes of the race, American athlete Susanna Sullivan was in the lead. However, she lost momentum in the closing stages and had to surrender her position.
Out of the 73 athletes who started the race, 63 managed to cross the finish line.