Ethiopians won Macau’s men’s and women’s marathon, while Kenyans won the men’s and women’s half-marathon yesterday.
The early-morning 2023 Galaxy Entertainment Macao International Marathon, jointly organised by the Sports Bureau (ID), Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) and the General Association of Athletics of Macau (AGAM), started and ended “successfully” yesterday at the Olympics Sports Centre Stadium in Taipa, the bureau said in a statement yesterday afternoon.
Currently in its 42nd edition, the event consisted of a marathon, half-marathon and mini-marathon. The marathon and half-marathon routes were set in accordance with their internationally standardised lengths which are 42.195 km and 21.0975 km respectively, while the mini-marathon route was set at about 6.3 km.
The marathon and half-marathon started at 6 a.m., while the mini-marathon started at 6:15 a.m.
According to the statement, this year’s races included the Cotai Strip and Seac Pai Van as part of the course for the marathon and half-marathon, in the former of which participants ran over the Governor Nobre de Carvalho Bridge to the Macau Peninsula, and then returned to Taipa via Sai Van Bridge.
Ethiopians and Kenyans dominate full and half-marathon races
The statement noted that Debele Fikadu Kebebe and Zinashwork Yenew Ambi, both from Ethiopia, won the men’s and women’s marathons with a finishing time of 02:14:05 and 02:33:38 respectively.
The half-marathon was won by Kenya’s Mathew Samperu (men’s category) and Ziporah Wanjiru Kingori (women’s category).
In both male and female categories, the winners of the marathon won US$40,000 (322,015 patacas), while the half-marathon winners received US$3,500 (28,176 patacas).
Rosa Mota wins local mini-marathon for 3rd time
Meanwhile, 65-year-old Portuguese retired marathon runner Rosa Mota, who was the first sportswoman to win Olympic gold for Portugal, won the women’s category of the mini marathon for the third time after her last triumph in 2019, almost two minutes ahead of the second-place runner, according to the statistics on the ID website.
In the “Macau athlete” category, local runner Wang Kun finished with a record-breaking time of 2:24:45 in the men’s marathon, making him the fastest athlete from Macau to complete the race (ranked 14th overall).
Wang told the media on the sidelines of the trophy awarding ceremony that the humid weather had made the race more challenging. He said that running over the bridges to and from the peninsula was the most difficult part of the course. Therefore, he added, he had to be strategic on the distribution of running speed throughout the race, in order to avoid stamina drainage.
Carnival immerses residents, tourists in marathon atmosphere: ID
Another statement released by the Sports Bureau on Saturday said that the two-day 2023 Galaxy Entertainment Macao International Marathon Carnival, which ended yesterday and was held at Galaxy’s Broadway Macau, had added “extra elements and highlights to the race” through a raft of game booths and street performances themed on sports, as well as a cultural and creative product shop.
According to the statement, ID President Pun Weng Kun said in his opening remarks about the carnival that his bureau has been working on leveraging the synergy between large-scale sporting events and the cultural and creative industry, in the hope of supporting local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and promoting the sector’s business development.
Ethiopia’s Zinashwork Yenew Ambi crosses the finish line seconds ahead of the runner-up Rodah Jepkorir Tanui from Kenya in the female category of yesterday’s marathon.
Ethiopia’s Debele Fikadu Kebebe crosses the finish line in the male category of yesterday marathon. – Photos: ID
