Kirwa second in Istanbul

Manama : Bahrain’s Rio Olympic Marathon silver medalist Eunice Kirwa, came in second place in a time of one hour six minutes and 19 seconds on Sunday in the 12th Vodafone Istanbul Women’s Half Marathon in Turkey and at the same time achieved a new Bahraini and Asian record over the 21.1km race distance.

The women’s race winner was Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich (1:06:19) and Ethiopia’s Worknesh Degefa (1:08.55) was third.

After the race, Kirwa expressed her joy at achieving this positive result which comes as part of her preparation for upcoming events, pointing out to the strong competition in the race, which is one of the most important marathons in the world for both men and women and includes wide participation of some of the world’s most prominent runners.

She added: “I am very happy to have achieved second place, and most importantly breaking the Bahraini and Asian records, which reflects on my preparation for upcoming competitions. I hope to continue achieving positive results which strengthens Bahrain athletics position in various international gatherings.”

The Men’s race was won by Tanzania’s Ismail Juma (1:00.9), Terefa Debela (1:00:22) of Ethiopia came in second, while Edwin Kipsang Rotich (1:00:37) of Kenya was third.