Kenya has reaffirmed its dominance in long distance running at the Abuja City Half-Marathon with a complete sweep in both men’s and women’s races.
The trio of Kephar Namutala, Edwin kipyago, and Ezekiel Chepkovomi swept the men’s top three medals. Namutala won the race in a time of 1:05:14:45 to go home with the cash prize of 8000 US dollars
His countryman Kipyago finished second in a time of 1:05:39:73 and a cash prize of 6000 US Dollars. Ezekiel Chepkoromi finished third in a time of 1:06:05:0,9 winning the cash prize of 5000 US dollars.
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Nigeria’s Adamu Shehu was Nigeria’s best performance as he emerged overall 4th in a time of 1:08:25:49 and won a double cash prize of 2 million Naira and 4000 US dollars for finishing in the overall top eight.
Another Nigerian, Auta Monday, finished 8th on the overall standing and second in the Nigeria category in a time of 1:09:45::96 to go home with a double cash reward of 500 US dollars and 1.5 million Naira. Friday, Elisha was Nigeria’s third-best performer in a time of 1:10:30:52 in the men’s category.
In the Women’s category, Kenya’s Mercy Jepkemoi won the race in a time of 1:14:53:23 while Nigeria’s duo of Shambor Blessing and Akusho Lydia made a historic feat by finishing second and third respectively in a time of 1:16:28:69 and 1:16:34:67.
The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, commended the organisers of the race, Nilayo Sport Management Limited, for continually raising the bar of road races in Nigeria with the premium organisation of the race.
“It’s quite brilliant what we are seeing here and it clearly aligns with our vision at the Sports commission. If we take this kind of events very seriously it can give Nigeria a comparative advantage in road racing in the near future”.
The Director General of the NSC, Bukola Olopade, also expressed confidence that Nigeria will soon be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to producing elite long-distance runners because of international marathons of this quality.
“The feasibility that the organisers, Nilayo Sports, are giving to long distance in Nigeria is highly commended and Premium Trust bank Abuja City marathon is another success story that will be remembered for a long time”.