Report18 Nov 2012


Dibaba and Kipkemboi prevail in Nijmegen 15K

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Tirunesh Dibaba winning in Nijmegen (© Rob Kleering)

18 November 2012 - Nijmegen, The Netherlands - Running under an overcast sky with very light rain, Tirunesh Dibaba and Nicholas Kipkemboi won the 29th edition of the ABN-AMRO Zevenheuvelenloop 15 kilometres in the easter Dutch city of Nijmegen on Sunday.

Dibaba's victory, with a time of 47:08, was not a surprise. The victory by Kipkemboi was however as the Kenyan clocked 42:01 to beat the world record holder over the distance, compatriot Leonard Komon, into second place. Kipkemoi built a 17 second advantage on Komon over the final three kilometres.

Dibaba and Komon are both World record holders over 15 Kilometres, setting their marks on this hilly course. Dibaba clocked 46:28 in 2009 while Komon's 41:13 came two years ago.

In the men's race there was a leading group of five. Kipkemoi, Komon, their compatriot Kennedy Kimutai, Ethiopian Abera Kuma and Eritrean Nguse Amlosom passed the five kilometres marker in 13:57. With that split the chance of breaking the course and World record was nearly gone. Although the pace stayed even Amlosom, Kimutai and Kuma could not follow. Kipkemoi and Komon passed ten kilometres in 27:59; Kimutai was then two seconds back while the others had lost more. Amlosom, who came back strongly in the final kilometers, was then 24 seconds back.

Kipkemboi was very strong in the final five kilometres. He dropped the struggling Komon at around 12 kilometres and gained 16 seconds on him in the final three kilometres. Amlosom came back very strong and beat Kimutai in the final stretch by one second for third place.

The women's race was in the beginning nearly a copy of the men's. Ethiopians Dibaba, Tiki Gelana and Gelete Burka  passed as a trio the five kilometres mark in 15:56. Dibaba, the London Olympic 10,000m champion, was very strong and lost her opponents half way through the race. She passed the 10Km in 31:40, nearly half a minute (32:08) ahead of Gelana, the Olympic Marathon champion. In the final five kilometres Dibaba gained more than a minute over her compatriot. Beatrice Mutai took third place in 48:51.

Wim van Hemert for the IAAF

Leading Results:

MEN -

 1. Nicholas Kipkemboi, KEN    42:01 (splits 13:58-27:59)

 2. Leonard Komon, KEN         42:18

 3. Nguse Amlosom, ERI         42:28

 4. Kennedy Kimitai, KEN       42:29

 5. Abera Kuma, ETH            43:05

 6. Alfers Lagat, KEN          43:36

 7. Bouabdellah Tahri, FRA     43:49

 8. Mulue Andom, ERI           43:58

 9. Hillary Kemboi, KEN        44:10

10. Abdi Nageeye, NED          44:13

11. Jonathan Mellor, GBR       44:19

12. Jesper van der Wielen, NED 44:27

13. Mohammed Burka, ETH        44:37

14. Morten Munkholm, DEN       45:42

15. Roy Hoornweg, NED          45:43

WOMEN -

 1. Tirunesh Dibaba, ETH    47:08  (splits 15:55-31:40)

 2. Tiki Gelana, ETH        48:09

 3. Beatrice Mutai, KEN     48:52

 4. Lucy Macharia, KEN      49:00

 5. Gelete Burka, ETH       49:26

 6. Aki Odagiri, JPN        50:57

 7. Merel de Knegt, NED     51:43

 8. Eriko Kushima, JPN      51:49

 9. Hikari Yasuhara, JPN    52:14

10. Miranda Boonstra, NED   52:23

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