Mekides Shimeles of the dsm-firmenich Running Team shattered the course record en route to a stunning breakthrough victory in the NN Marathon Rotterdam today, recording a personal best of 2:18:56.
The 20-year-old Ethiopian survived a mishap at the 25km drinks station where she missed her bottle and was forced to backtrack to retrieve it, losing time on her rivals, to race to an emphatic victory by a near two-and-a-half-minute margin. Shimeles led home a one-two for the dsm-firmenich Running Team as her teammate Aminet Ahmed finished second in 2:21:25.
Shitaye Eshete made it a podium sweep for Ethiopia as she finished in third place in a time of 2:23:22.
Shimeles, who was running only her third marathon, seized control of the race before the 30km mark to claim a comprehensive win and announce her arrival as a star of the future.
Shimeles said, “I’m so happy to win the first marathon of my career in a new personal best, and it was extra special to break the fourteen-year-old course record set by one of the greatest Ethiopian runners ever, Tiki Gelana.”
Shimeles made her marathon debut last October, finishing third in the TCS Amsterdam Marathon in a time of 2:19:56. She registered a DNF in the Tokyo Marathon last month but bounced back in spectacular style today by delivering the greatest performance of her fledgling career.
In the men’s race, it was Guye Idemo Adola from Ethiopia clocking in an impressive 2:03:54. Tesdaye Deriba took second in 2:04:15. Bashir Abdi, originally from Somalia, not representing Belgium, rolled in for third in 2:04:19.
Idemo, now age 35, has had a long career. He announced his arrival to international running in 2014 at the age of 23. That year, he earned a bronze medal at the World Half Marathon in København, Denmark. Sunday’s win was just eight seconds shy of his personal best set in Berlin in 2017 at 2:03:46. His biggest win was probably his 2021 Berlin victory in the time of 2:05:45.
Deriba missed his personal best time by two seconds, which was set last year in Barcelona. Abdi at age 37, was a pre-race favourite for the win. His personal best is 2:03:36 from the 2021 running of the Rotterdam Marathon. That performance is the European and Belgium national record.
The 2021 and 2024 Tokyo and Paris bronze and silver medallist has had an illustrious career. He has never won a Majors marathon, however has podiumed three times and finished top-10 in every race he has finished.
Results
Women
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mekides Shimeles | Ethiopia | 2:18:56 |
| 2 | Aminet Ahmed | Ethiopia | 2:21:25 |
| 3 | Shitaye Eshete | Ethiopia | 2:23:22 |
| 4 | Pascalia Chepkogei | Bahrain | 2:24:34 |
| 5 | Clémence Calvin | France | 2:25:24 |
| 6 | Burtukan Yifru | Ethiopia | 2:26:24 |
| 7 | Susana Santos | Portugal | 2:26:26 |
| 8 | Mikky Keetels | Netherlands | 2:30:42 |
| 9 | Jana Soethout | Germany | 2:31:09 |
| 10 | Victoria Warpy | Belgium | 2:31:50 |
| 11 | Jacqueline Gaughan | USA | 2:38:55 |
| 12 | Wuga He | China | 2:39:30 |
Men
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guye Idemo Adola | Ethiopia | 2:03:54 |
| 2 | Tesfaye Deriba | Ethiopia | 2:04:15 |
| 3 | Bashir Abdi | Belgium | 2:04:19 |
| 4 | Kenneth Kipkemoi | Kenya | 2:04:21 |
| 5 | Haymanot Alew | Ethiopia | 2:05:19 |
| 6 | Erick Sang | Kenya | 2:05:34 |
| 7 | Filmon Tesfu | Netherlands | 2:06:40 |
| 8 | Pietro Riva | Italy | 2:06:46 |
| 9 | Jirata Dinki | Ethiopia | 2:08:18 |
| 10 | Hillary Bor | USA | 2:08:40 |
| 11 | Dorian Boulvin | Belgium | 2:09:23 |
| 12 | Noah Schutte | Netherlands | 2:09:28 |
| 13 | Yitayew Abuhay | Israel | 2:09:35 |
| 14 | Mike Kiptum Boit | Kenya | 2:10:11 |
| 15 | Alem Mersimoy | Ethiopia | 2:10:12 |
| 16 | Fikadu Liche | Ethiopia | 2:10:17 |
| 17 | Melesse Birhan | Ethiopia | 2:10:17 |
| 18 | Thomas De Bock | Belgium | 2:10:18 |
| 19 | Koen Naert | Belgium | 2:10:33 |
| 20 | Sawan Barwal | India | 2:11:58 |
