Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia takes first place in the men's professional field during the 128th Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2024. The marathon includes around 30,000 athletes from 129 countries running the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston, Massachusetts. The event is the world's oldest annually run marathon. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma wins Boston Marathon with a sizzling performance

On Apr 15, 2024 98

Addis Ababa, April 15, 2024 (FBC) – Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma reigned supreme at the Boston Marathon on Monday (15), winning the World Athletics Platinum Label road race in 2:06:17.

For Sisay, it was a race of redemption, following two previous outings in the US city that ended in disappointment. His winning time is the fourth fastest in Boston history.

In the race, Sisay made an early break in the men’s race and built up a huge lead, eventually winning by 41 seconds.

Ten men passed through the first 5km in 14:21, but that still wasn’t quite swift enough for Sisay, who increased his pace and started to pull away from the pack. He reached 10km in 28:28, by which point he already had a 25-second margin over an eight-man chase pack that included Evans Chebet and Gabriel Geay – the top two finishers from last year.

Over the course of the next five kilometres, Sisay had added almost a minute to his lead, reaching 15km in 42:43, 81 seconds ahead of his pursuers.

He reached the half way point in 1:00:19 – the fastest ever half-way split recorded in Boston – by which point the chase pack was down to five men: Chebet, Albert Korir, Cybrian Kotut, John Korir and Haftu Teklu.

By the time Sisay Lemma reached 20 miles (1:33:48), he had increased his lead to two minutes and 49 seconds and was still just about on schedule to break Geoffrey Mutai’s course record of 2:03:02 from 2011. But he had some of the toughest parts of the course to contend with.

He slogged his way up Heartbreak Hill in 5:28 but his lead was starting to reduce as Chebet, John Korir, Albert Korir and Mohamed Esa ran together up the steepest section of the race.
From that point onwards, the chasers continued to reduce Sisay’s leading margin. With two miles to go, though, Lemma still had a 90-second cushion over Chebet and John Korir, who were running side by side, both looking set to claim the other podium places.

Despite his pace continuing to slip, Sisay’s lead proved too much for his opponents and he went on to cross the line in 2:06:17. The was some excitement further back, though, as the strong-finishing Ethiopia’s Mohammed Esa went from fifth at 23 miles to second by the finish line, claiming the runner-up spot in 2:06:58.

Chebet, the defending champion, this time finished third in 2:07:22 – his fourth consecutive podium finish in a marathon major.

“I previously didn’t finish in this race, so I wanted redemption for that, that’s why I came,” said Sisay Lemma, who last year moved to fourth on the world all-time list with his 2:01:48 victory in Valencia. “Thankfully I was able to redeem myself, so I’m happy. My plan was to break the course record, but the hills at the end made me really tired.

“The reason I raced in Boston is because the course is similar to the Olympic one, so hopefully this will be good preparation for the Paris Games.”

In contrast to the men’s race, Ethiopian women athletes were unable to register podium finish, where Buze Diriba (2:24:04), Senbere Teferi (2:24:04), Workenesh Edesa (2:24:47), Tiruye Mesfin (2:24:58), and Dera Dida (2:25:16) finished 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 10th, respectively.