Dutch multi-distance phenomenon Sifan Hassan has set a race record to claim victory in the first running of the Sydney Marathon as a world majors series event.
Hassan clocked a women’s winning time of two hours 18 minutes and 22 seconds as Kenyan legend Eliud Kipchoge fell short of the podium in the men’s category on Sunday.
Ethiopia’s Hailemaryam Kiros produced the fastest marathon ever run in Australia to win the men’s event in 2:06:06.
The 28-year-old prevailed by 10 seconds over young countryman Addisu Gobena, with Lesotho’s Tebello Ramakongoana third.
Kiros shaved 12 seconds off last year’s record set by Kenya’s Brimin Kipkorir, who is provisionally suspended after recording a positive test for a prohibited substance two months after his win in Australia.
Hassan blitzed the previous record of 2:21:40 – set by Ethiopia’s Workenesh Edesa – as she won by 34 seconds from Kenyan runner Brigid Kosgei with Edesa third in 2:22:05.
“The last five kilometres, I’m dead,” Hassan said. “It’s the first major marathon in Australia, in Sydney, and I’m the first one to win, so it’s big history for me.
“I felt so good in the first 5Ks and I think I pushed too hard. I pushed really hard the last 10Ks. I was like, ‘That’s not really smart. I’m going to pay the price’, but I feel I got away with it. I’m so grateful.”
Kipchoge, 40, finished ninth in 2:08:31 after dropping out of the leading pack around the 31km mark.
“I’m happy to go across the finish line. I have nothing to prove,” Kipchoge said.
“My mission is to bring all the people together. Let us surpass 55,000 [from 35,000], actually, next year to run here.
“It’s a beautiful course. It’s a course whereby there is no other in this world.”
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Canberra local Leanne Pompeani led the local charge in the women’s race, crossing the finish line in seventh with a time of 2:24:47.
Pompeani was followed by Olympians Jess Stenson and Lisa Weightman in eighth and ninth, respectively.
Melburnian Haftu Strintzos posted the best result for Australia’s men in 14th in 2:11:27, ahead of 16th-fastest Thomas Do Canto.
Former national record holder Brett Robinson was 17th in 2:15:00.
Swiss star Marcel Hug smashed the record of 1:36:38 set by Australian legend Kurt Fearnley in 2011 to win the men’s wheelchair marathon.
The seven-time Paralympic gold medallist and marathon world record holder outpaced the field as he clocked 1:27:15 and won by more than six minutes from last year’s Paralympic marathon bronze medallist Tomoki Suzuki.
America’s six-time Paralympic medallist Susannah Scaroni was just as dominant in the women’s category to win in 1:45:52.
Scaroni’s time easily bettered Australian star Madison De Rozario’s record time of 1:54:10, set last year.
De Rozario, who claimed back-to-back Sydney Marathon wins from 2023, did not compete on Sunday.
