Kenyans win both the men and women's marathon races in Berlin

Kenyans Sabastian Sawe and Rosemary Wanjiru won the men's and women's editions of the Berlin Marathon on Sunday, both breaking through for the first time in the German capital.

Sawe finished in 2hr 02min 16sec in just his third marathon attempt, 11 seconds slower than his personal best set on debut in Valencia in 2024.

"It was hard but I gave my best. I'm happy about my performance," Sawe told Germany's RTL network.

Sawe's time is equal ninth fastest in history, but fell outside the late Kelvin Kiptum's world record time of 2:00:35 and Eliud Kipchoge's course record of 2:01:09, set in 2022.

'Well prepared'

The 30-year-old, who had been tipped to challenge both of those records, declined to blame the warmer than usual conditions, with temperatures of 25 degrees celsius and high humidity, while promising to return to Berlin next year.

"I felt good. You can't change the weather of course. I was well prepared and I'm just pleased. I enjoyed the atmosphere in Berlin. I'm happy to be here and want to be back next year. I hope I can go a bit better."

Japan's Akira Akasaki finished second in a time of 2:06:15 and Ethiopia's Chimdessa Debele completed the podium with 2:06:57.

Wanjiru, who finished second in Berlin in 2022, is the first Kenyan woman to win the race since 2018.

Three seconds ahead of rival

The 30-year-old surged ahead after 25 kilometres. She was 36 seconds in front at the 40-kilometre mark but slowed slightly, allowing the chasers to cut the margin.