Geoffrey Kamworor overcame a tumble, wind and rain to win, photo by Getty Images for IAAF
Kamworor the superb winner
CARDIFF (GBR, Mar 26): Just as the starter’s pistol fired for men’s race at 22nd IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships in the Welsh capital, defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor found himself in the worst possible position: face down on the pavement. But the 23- year old World CC champion recovered quickly and at the end succesfully defended his title in very bad weather (specially in last stages with strong rain and wind). His 59:10 is more than remarkable given the conditions. “It’s unfortunate that I fell down at the start. People were coming from behind and pushing me down. I never give up,” Kamworor told reporters. Silver for another Kenyan favorite Bedan Karoki 59:36 and bronze after superb finish for the home hero Mo Farah in 59:59. The same time for fourth and best Ethiopian Abayneh Ayele, for him life-time best. “I’m definitely a bit disappointed to be honest with you,” said Farah who set a European record of 42:04 at the 15-K point. “That’s who I am.” The Kenyans won the team title with a total time of 2:58:58 for their top-3 runners, with the Ethiopians second in 3:01:16 and Eritrea third in 3:06:18. Those were the same three teams which made the podium in 2014, except in a different order (Eritrea, Kenya and Ethiopia). Second best European was Ireland´s Paul Pollock in 1:02:46 as 14th. Best European team Great Britain 3:07:00 in high quality fourth place.
