The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Jeptoo keeps her feet for Kenya, Kebede takes men’s win Posted: 21 Apr 2013 08:40 AM PDT
Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede made up for missing out on the Olympics and destroyed Kenyan hopes of retaining the men's title by overhauling 2011 winner Emmanuel Mutai in the closing stages to win in two hours six minutes and four seconds. People turned out in force in the sunshine to support the elite athletes and some 36,000 fun-runners taking part in the London event which took place six days after the Boston Marathon bombings. A 30-second silence was held before the men's race and mass start and many of the competitors had black ribbons pinned to their tops in honour of the three dead and over 170 injured in Boston. Women's pre-race favourite Gelana collided with wheelchair athlete Josh Cassidy at a drinks station at 15 km and had dropped off the pace by the halfway mark of the 42.195-km race, eventually finishing 16th. Jeptoo, second to Gelana at the London Olympics, was always up with the front runners and, after a cagey first half, the 28-year-old pulled away from compatriot and world champion Edna Kiplagat after 30km. Her arms flailing as she ran alone up the Mall to the finish, Jeptoo crossed the line in 2:20:15. Draped in a red towel, she dropped to the floor, palms together in front of her in prayer. "I knew this morning I was going to run well and there was such a good field you were always worried someone would do better," Jeptoo told reporters. "It wasn't until 25 miles that I got that confidence back and felt I could win." Last year's runner-up Kiplagat was second again, over a minute behind Jeptoo and Japan's Yukiko Akaba took a surprise third place. Up until the final couple of kilometres of the men's race, it looked as though Kenya would have cause for a double celebration. Mutai had gone to the front ahead of compatriot Stanley Biwott after 35 km but Kebede, almost a minute down on the leaders, found a second wind and timed his attack to perfection. The diminutive Ethiopian, not selected for the 2012 Olympics, worked his way through the field and, with his fists pumping up high under his chin, he strode past a visibly tiring Mutai in the final kilometre. Mutai staggered over the line for second and Ethiopia's Ayele Abshero took third place. Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich from Uganda found the pace tough and finished sixth. "I had a little pain in my side during the early part of the race but as time went on, it got better and better," Kebede, third last year, told reporters. "I could feel myself getting closer and closer to Mutai and that made me stronger." Britain's Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion Mo Farah kept to his plan of dropping out of the race at halfway, stepping off the course to cheers from the large crowd lining the street. Farah, running in distinctive blue arm socks which went from his wrists to just below his shoulders, was using his appearance to learn about the race in preparation for his marathon debut in London next year. "I've learnt the biggest lesson of my life. If I had come here next year and made a mess of it, mentally I don't think I could have dealt with that," he told the BBC. American Tatyana McFadden won the women's wheelchair race to add to the Boston Marathon title she won on Monday and Australia's Kurt Fearnley took victory in the men's race to end Briton David Weir's hopes of a record seventh title. Weir finished down in fifth. — Reuters |
| Vettel wins without drama in Bahrain Posted: 21 Apr 2013 08:10 AM PDT
In a controversial race that went off without major drama, untroubled by anti-government protests and reported clashes elsewhere in the tiny Gulf kingdom, the German beat Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen by 9.1 seconds. The win, with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman al-Khalifa watching, was Vettel's second of the season and 28th of his career. "It was pretty dominant today," said the 25-year-old, who started on the front row and was so far ahead after 25 of the 57 laps that he could pit and still come out in the lead, after swigging the winner's rosewater on the podium. "Certainly we had more pace than we expected." France's Romain Grosjean finished third for Lotus, his first podium of the season, to complete the same top three as last year. Britain's Paul Di Resta equalled his career-best finish, after leading for three laps, with a fine fourth place for Force India after losing third to Grosjean with six laps to go. Vettel now has 77 points to 67 for Raikkonen, who chalked up his 21st successive scoring finish and is three races away from equalling the record set by the now-retired Michael Schumacher. There was bitter disappointment for Mercedes's Nico Rosberg, who started on pole position but finished ninth, and for Ferrari's Fernando Alonso who could have expected to be on the podium but for a mechanical failure. The Spaniard, now fourth overall with 47 points, finished eighth after having to make an unscheduled pitstop on lap seven - a lap after coming in for his regular stop - with his rear-wing DRS system stuck open. Britain's Lewis Hamilton moved up to third in the standings, on 50 points, after taking fifth place for Mercedes in a thrilling battle with Red Bull's Mark Webber over the closing laps of the Australian's 200th race. Mexican Sergio Perez was sixth, also passing Webber after a wheel-to-wheel duel with McLaren team mate Jenson Button that saw the newcomer nudge the rear of the 2009 champion's car. Button urged the team to 'calm him down' but Perez continued to push with Grosjean looming in his mirrors. Webber finished seventh while Button was 10th, denying Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado a first point of the season for Williams. Rosberg led from the start but held off Vettel for only two laps, with Alonso swiftly moving up to second before his nightmare in the pits. "I knew it would be crucial to get in the lead if I could because then you have a little bit of an advantage looking after your tyres and managing the race from there," said Vettel. "I could feel that I was able to pull away." — Reuters |
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