Jesca Chelangat beaten to second by Gete Alemayehu in Prague

Kenya’s Jesca Chelangat was beaten to second place by Gete Alemayehu of Ethiopia at the at the 25th edition of the Prague Half Marathon held on Sunday (05) in Prague, Czech Republic.

The 26 year-old who was the third fastest athlete on paper, ran with the Ethiopian side by side up until the 5km mark, after which Chelangat pulled away from her but the narrative changed as Alemayehu made a strong comeback, overtaking the Kenyan after the 15km mark and held steadily onto the lead to cut the tape first in 1:08.10 with Chelangat forced to settle in second place two seconds later.

The fastest athlete on the entry list, Nigsti Haftu Tesfay of Ethiopia who two months ago finished in 16th place at the Zurich marathon, closed the podium the podium three finishes in 1:09.29.

Kenya’s Vivian Melly, who finished in fifth place last month at the Lisbon Half Marathon, took the fourth position as Ethiopian-born Turkish long-distance runner, Sultan Haydar finished in fifth place in respective time of 1:09.47.

The race course record of 1:04.52 set seven years ago by Joyciline Jepkosgei from Kenya remains standing.

LEADING RESULTS

21KM WOMEN

1. Gete Alemayehu Teklemichael (ETH)  1:08.10
2. Jesca Chelangat                          (KEN) 1:08.12
3. Nigsti Haftu Tesfay                     (ETH) 1:09.29
4. Vivian Melly                               (KEN) 1:09.32
5. Sultan Haydar                            (TUK) 1:09.47