Dibaba, Ayana up for a marathon debut

• The 2022 TCS Amsterdam Marathon will be held on October 16, 2022, at Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam.
• Dibaba holds a personal best time of 3:50:07 for 1500m.
• Last year’s edition saw Tamirat Tola and Angela Tanui win and set new records.

Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba and Almaz Ayana, competing in the field and track events, are set to make their marathon debut this Sunday at the TSC Amsterdam Marathon.

Genzebe Dibaba and Almaz Ayana compete at the 2015 Beijing Olympic Marathon. Photo/ Athletics Weeekly

The duo has for a long time earned a reputation through track and field competitions as world record-breaking endurance runners, but this weekend, they’ll tackle up to 42km (26.2 miles).

The 31-Year-old Dibaba holds a personal best time of 3:50:07 for 1500m set in 2015 in Monaco but also set some other records in 2000m,3000m, and 5000m.

She has also broken records in indoor games, covering a mile and two miles, with 13 miles being the longest distance, but she has covered with the record time of 65:18 and won at the 2020 Valencia Half Marathon.

According to a statement at the pre-event press conference held in Vondelpark in Amsterdam, Dibaba said she will be going for a good position and a good record time.

Ayana, on her side, has also not competed in long-distance running; this will be her marathon debut.

She has not competed much lately since the 2016 Olympic Games, where she won an Olympic title in the 10,000m after clocking 29:17:45.

She holds a half-marathon best time of 67:10 that was recorded in September at the Great North Run last month.

Amsterdam Marathon Records

The annual Marathon has seen elite runners compete and break records severally. Last year’s edition saw Tamirat Tola and Angela Tanui win and set new records.

Tola won the men’s elite race with a marathon record of 2:03:39, while Tanui won the women’s elite race with a time record of 2:17:57.

It will be a competitive race.

The 2022 TCS Amsterdam Marathon will see some elite runners line up for a competitive race, including Cybrian Kotut and Lemi Berhanu in the men’s elite race. They have both won marathon races before.

Berhanu holds a personal best of 2:04:33, a record that he placed in Dubai in 2016; He also won the 2016 Boston Marathon.

Khalid Choukoud and Richard Douma are also expected in the men’s elite race, while Jacelyn Gruppen and Eva van Zoonen are for the women’s elite.

Choukoud, who will be competing at his home ground, fully specializes in marathons and set his personal best time of 2:09:55 at the 2021 IAAF Xiamen Tuscany Camp Elite Marathon in Sienna, Italy, a time record that saw him secure a chance at the 2020 Summer Olympics.