Ethiopia's Yehualaw wins women's London Marathon

Yalemzerf Yehualaw

Yalemzerf Yehualaw from Ethiopia wins the London Marathon.

Photo credit: Pool

What you need to know:

  • The 23-year old Ethiopian even overcame a fall in the race to celebrate the biggest win in her career.
  • Defending champion Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya had to settle for second place, with Ethiopia's Alemu Megertu third.

London. Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw won the women's London Marathon on Sunday.

The 23-year-old crossed the line in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 17 minutes and 25 seconds which, if confirmed, would be the third fastest time in the London  event.

Defending champion Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya had to settle for second place, with Ethiopia's Alemu Megertu third.

Yehualaw's victory was all the more impressive as she appeared to trip on a speed bump with six miles to go.

Nevertheless, the women's 10 kilometre world-record holder recovered to rejoin the leading pack.

After running a mile in 5mins 11 secs, Yehualaw and Jepkosgei were out in front by themselves.

It appeared the world record for a women's-only marathon of 2:17:01 was under threat, but Yehualaw was happy just finishing first.

"I really like this race," she said. "I knew it was fast paced and I was aware we were on world record-breaking time at one point, but I just focused on running as fast as I could."

Competitors run over Tower Bridge as they compete in the 2022 London Marathon in central London on October 2, 2022.
ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP

Photo credit: Adrian Dennis

The world record for women-only races stands at 2:17:01 but Yehualaw, seemingly more concerned with winning, had no need to threaten to that mark after surging clear of Jepkosgei.

The women's race was without world record-holder Brigid Koskei, the 2021 and 2021 champion. The Kenyan withdrew because of a hamstring injury.