Kenyan athletes triumph at first edition of Rome Half Marathon

Kenyan athletes have recorded a double triumph at the first edition of the Rome Half Marathon, which took place on Sunday morning on the central streets of Italy’s capital.

According to official results, 19-year-old Emmanuel Wafula dominated the men’s race after reaching 10-kilometres in 28 minutes, 14 seconds.”.

Wafula broke away from fellow Kenyans Gideon Kiprotich Rop and Antony Kimtai, running solo near the Colosseum before finishing in 59’58”.

Rop came in second with a time of 1h00’57”, while Kimtai completed the podium with 1h02’23”.

Daniele D’Onofrio, the first Italian to finish, came in sixth with a final time of 1h05’34”, just behind European 5,000m champion Ilias Fifa, who completed the men’s race in 1h05’22”.

In the women’s race, Nancy Sang shone with a personal best for the 10 km distance in the time of 31’39, which she recorded in April, which ranks in the Top 30 world performances of the season. She finished the marathon in 1h06’52.

Behind her were Ethiopia’s Fantu Worku Taye, who finished at 1h07’30” and Kenyan Evaline Chirchir at 1h07’47”. Italy’s Sofia Yaremchuk finished seventh in 1h13’28”.

According to the organisers, over 17 thousand participants registered for the marathon events that saw them race along historic landmarks in Rome.