Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia became the youngest woman to win the London Marathon. She crossed the finish line at 2:17.26, the third fastest in history of the event, behind Paula Radcliffe and Mary Keitany.
This was the 23-year old’s second marathon, but it isn’t just the time that is impressive. Yehualaw tripped on a speed bump with just six miles to go and fell, causing considerable scratches and bruising. She continued on and finished with ease.
She had been leading since the beginning of the race before settling into the pack of top runners. She fell onto the pavement and had soreness on her hip and knee but luckily recovered quickly and surged on.
“I did not see the bump. I have some feeling here and here,” pointing to her knee and hip, “it was very painful. I have lost some feeling in my hip, knee and my hand. They are still sore now.” she said afterwards
Yalemzerf Yehualaw fell... and STILL won the #LondonMarathon in 2:17:26 - the third fastest women's London Marathon time in history 😱
Amazing!#BBCMarathon— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) October 2, 2022
She was about 25 meters behind the leading pack, but seemed to be running faster than before. The leading group trickled down gradually, but with two miles to go, it was head to head between Yehualaw and last year’s winner, Joyciline Jepkosgei. Yehualaw left her competitor in the dust when she ran her 24th mile in a jaw dropping 4min 43 seconds. Jepkosgei finished nearly a whole minute behind with a time of 2:18.07.
“It is my first time in London, so I am so happy to win. People were shouting a lot and it inspired me. But the longer plan I have is that I would like to next time break the world record.” This star runner does not plan on quitting while she’s ahead, and we cannot wait to watch her in the coming years.
Yehualaw runs an average of 180km to 195km a week and runs in the same NN group as the men’s world champion, Eliud Kipchoge. She now plans to return to London in April to defend her title.
