Legese, Cynthia win Delhi Half Marathon

ETHIOPIAN BIRHANU LEGESE AND KENYAN CYNTHIA LIMO won the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in the men's and women's categories respectively in New Delhi on Sunday.

Legese clocked 59.20 minutes to claim the first spot while his compatriot Mosinet Geremew finished a second later. Eritrea's Zersenay Tadese, the world record holder in half marathon, finished third in 59.24 minutes.

Kenyans Edwin Kiptoo (59.26 minutes) and Jonathan Maiyo (59.26 minutes) finished fourth and fifth respectively.

It was the first time in the year that six athletes completed the half marathon inside 60 minutes.

Tadese said someone stepped on his shoe at the eight-km mark, forcing him to stop and put it back on and join the leading group of racers.

In the women's category, Cynthia led a top-three finish for the Kenyans as she finished the race in an hour, eight minutes and 35 seconds. She was a fraction of a second ahead of Helah Kiprop, the 2015 World Championships' marathon silver medallist.

Gladys Chesir claimed the third spot in an hour, eight minutes and 36 seconds.

Genet Yalew, Tadelech Bekele and Netsanet Gudeta claimed the fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively.