Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and Hailemaryam Kiros take honours in new era at Sydney Marathon

SYDNEY – Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and Ethiopian Hailemaryam Kiros both ran course-record times to win the titles at the Sydney Marathon on Aug 31, as the race entered a new era as part of the World Marathon Majors series.

Dutchwoman Hassan showed her class to cross the line at the city’s Opera House in 2hr 18min 22sec, well clear of former world record holder Brigid Kosgei (2:18:56) of Kenya with 2024 champion Workenesh Edesa (2:22:15) of Ethiopia third.

Hassan, who will skip September’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after opting to prioritise Sydney, admitted she almost misjudged her race.

“I pushed too hard and I learnt a lesson,” said the Ethiopian-born 32-year-old who has also won major races at London and Chicago in 2023. “I was so done the last 10k.

“It’s amazing, I’m really grateful. I’m so happy to win with a course record.

“It’s history, it’s the first major marathon (in Sydney) and I’m the first winner.”

She explained she almost paid the price over the last part of the race for her fast start but held on to win.

“In the last 10 kilometres, I was thinking ‘Oh God, please I don’t want any drama, I just want a normal finish’,” she added.

“I pushed too hard at the start... now I know that it doesn’t work.”

In the men’s race, Kiros broke clear of the leading pack with Addisu Gobena at the 30km mark and outsprinted his compatriot to win in 2:06:06. Gobena (2:06:16) was second, while Tebello Ramakongoana (2:06:47) of Lesotho was third.

Kenyan marathon great Eliud Kipchoge, 40, dropped off the leading pack when the two Ethiopians broke away and finished ninth in 2:08:31.

Sydney put on its best face with bright sunshine and cool temperatures as the race joined New York, London, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo and Berlin on the elite marathon majors circuit.

Ramakongoana led the top men across the city’s iconic Harbour Bridge at the head of the field of some 35,000 runners but was soon subsumed into a 25-strong leading pack.

Gobena, 20, made his move as the leaders ran through Centennial Park but Kiros, 28, stayed with him and was a comfortable winner in the fastest marathon time ever run on Australian soil.

“The competition was very tough – this was a strong, strong field,” said Kiros, who was fifth at the Berlin Marathon in 2024.

“But we worked together as partners and now we’re here.”

Hassan’s mark improved Edesa’s 2024 winning time of 2:21:41, while Kiros bettered Kenyan Brimin Kipkorir’s 2024 mark of 2:06:18.

Kipchoge, who has won two Olympic and 11 major marathons over his glorious career, said before the race that still competing at 40 was an achievement in itself.

“I’m happy to go across the finish line. I have nothing to prove. My mission is to bring all the people together,” he said.

“Let us surpass 55,000, actually, next year to run here.

“It was not my day today. Above all, I have crossed the finish line to empower the people of Australia, to make Australia a running nation.” REUTERS, AFP