February 3, 2013, Marugame, Japan (IAAF) – Ethiopia’s London 2012 Olympic Games Marathon champion Tiki Gelana successfully defended her crown at 67thKagawa Marugame Half Marathon in 1:08:53, five seconds slower than in 2012, but was made to work surprisingly hard for her second victory on Sunday (3). Gelana took off from the start and covered the first 5km in a swift 15:52, a minute faster than her opening split from last year and she continued to lead at 10km, which was passed in 32:19, still nearly 30 seconds ahead of her 2012 pace.
However, behind her, New Zealand’s Kim Smith had been less audacious and covered the first 5km in 16:07 and 10km in 32:25 before catching Gelana at 12km.
The pair then ran together for the next 8.5 km before the Ethiopian surged away from her rival to win by seven seconds.
The next five slots were occupied by Japanese and all of them set their personal best. Yuko Shimizu was third with 1:09:32, nearly three minutes faster than she had ever run before for the distance, while Sakiko Matsumi was fourth with 1:10:10 and a personal best by more than two minutes. Aromas Gelana, a younger sister of the 2012 Olympic champion, finished 24thin 1:13:39.
Tiki Gelana
Erba Tiki Gelana (born 22 October 1987, in Bokoji, Oromia Region) is an Oromian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. Her personal best of 2:18:58 hours is the Ethiopian national record for the event. She won the 2011 Amsterdam Marathon and the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon. She won the Gold Medal at the 2012 London Olympics with a time of 2:23:07, a new Olympic record.
A cousin of 2000 Olympic marathon champion Gezahegne Abera, Tiki began competing in road races in Ethiopia and came fourth at the 2004 Great Ethiopian Run. She went to Catalonia in Spain in 2006 and made her debut over the half marathon distance, including wins in Mataró and Terrassa. She won the San Silvestre Barcelonesa 10K race at the end of the year. She travelled to Japan in 2007 and won the 10K at the Sanyo Road Race – her time of 31:54 minutes made her the third fastest Ethiopian that year. She won the 2008 Women First 5K in Addis Ababa in March, then came fourth at the high-profile World 10K Bangalore in May. She debuted on the European track and field circuit that summer and set a 5000 metres best of 15:17.74 minutes at the Internationales Stadionfest and a 10,000 metres best of 31:27.80 minutes at the Ostrava Golden Spike.
In late 2008, she took sixth place at the Delhi Half Marathon with a time of 1:10:22 hours, but she was two minutes slower at the 2009 RAK Half Marathon, finishing 16th, but managed second place behind Abebu Gelan at the Virginia Beach Half Marathon in her American debut. Her marathon debut followed in October at the Dublin Marathon and in a close finish she took third place on the podium. In 2010 she came fourth at both the Los Angeles Marathon and the Dublin Marathon, although she improved her best to 2:29:53 hours.
The 2011 Amsterdam Marathon marked a breakthrough for Tiki as she won the race in a time of 2:22:08 hours – almost eight minutes faster than her previous best and an improvement upon Gete Wami’s nine-year-old course record. At the end of that year she returned to Ethiopia, where she came runner-up at the Great Ethiopian Run and third at the Ethiopian Clubs Cross Country Championships. She improved her personal best at the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon in February 2012, going unchallenged to win the race in 1:08:48 hours.
She broke the Ethiopian record at the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon, completing a solo run of 2:18:58 hours to win the race almost five minutes ahead of runner-up Valeria Straneo. This made her the fourth fastest woman ever over the distance
On 5 August 2012, she won the Gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics Marathon with an Olympic record time of 2:23:07
Leading results (JPN unless stated):
Men
1. Collis Birmingham (AUS) 1:00:56
2. Enock Omwamba (KEN) 1:01:15
3. Tsuyoshi Ugachi 1:01:16
4. Kenta Murayama 1:01:19
5. Benjamin Gandu (KEN) 1:01:21
6. Micah Njeru (KEN) 1:01:33
7. Masaki Ito 1:02:00
8. Abel Kirui (KEN) 1:02:04
9. Ryo Yamamoto 1:02:05
10. Johana Maina (KEN) 1:02:14
Women
1. Tiki Gelana (ETH) 1:08:53
2. Kim Smith (NZL) 1:09:00
3. Yuko Shimizu 1:09:32
4. Sakiko Matsumi 1:10:10
5. Eri Hayakawa 1:10:13
6. Misato Horie 1:10:26
7. Rui Aoyama 1:10:28
8. Nikki Chapple (AUS) 1:10:34
9. Kumi Ogura 1:10:51
10. Misaki Onishi 1:11:16
Ethiopia’s Gelana named 2012 AIMS female World Athlete of the Year
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Ethiopia’s London 2012 Olympic Games Marathon champion Tiki Gelana was named as the female AIMS/ASICS World Athlete of the Year for 2012 in Marugame, Japan, on Sunday (3).
President Emeritus of AIMS Hiroaki Chosa and AIMS Board Member and Vice President of the Japanese Athletics Federation Dr Keisuke Sawaki presented Gelana with the acclaimed Golden Shoe Trophy during an awards ceremony after she had won the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon earlier in the day.
Gelana, 25, becomes the first Ethiopian women to win the AIMS/ASICS World Athlete of the Year Award. She joins her male compatriots Gezahenge Abera (2000) and Haile Gebrselassie (2006, 2007 & 2008) in winning this prestigious award.
She started 2012 with a runaway win and personal best of 1:08:48 in the Marugame Half Marathon but that was just a warm-up for a decisive five-minute victory in the Rotterdam Marathon, where she became the fifth woman to break 2:19 for the distance when she ran a national record of 2:18:58.
The following week Mary Keitany won the London Marathon in the only faster time posted during the year, but when both went to London for the Olympic Games it was Gelana who triumphed.
Despite an early fall she stayed in the ever dwindling leading group. In the final kilometre, she started to edge ahead of her three remaining rivals, crossing the line in a new Olympic record of 2:23:07. She then further improved her Half Marathon best to 1:07:48 when finishing third in the Great North Run in September.
The AIMS/ASICS World Athlete of the Year Awards were founded in 1992 and are decided each year from nominations made by the 350 member races of AIMS.
AIMS President Paco Borao commented: “I am delighted that AIMS can recognise this fantastic athlete with the AIMS/ASICS World Athlete of the Year Award. Tiki demonstrated excellent form in 2012 culminating in her magnificent Gold Medal winning performance at the London Olympic Games. It is with great pleasure we recognise her achievements on behalf of the 350 members of AIMS in over 95 countries throughout the world. I would like to give special thanks to everyone involved in the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon who made this presentation possible as part of this fantastic event.”
Tiki Gelana commented: “To be named as AIMS/ASICS World Athlete of the Year is a fantastic honour. To see my name alongside such legendary names in the sport is an incredible feeling. I would like to also extend my thanks to AIMS for their support and all sponsors who make this prestigious award possible.”
The men’s 2012 AIMS/ASICS World Athlete of the Year will be named in the near future.