Ethiopian distance running great misses world record by just two seconds after remarkable comeback run

Kenenisa Bekele added another remarkable result to his legendary CV on Sunday morning as the Ethiopian distance running great stormed to a 2:01:41 marathon in Berlin, missing Eliud Kipchoge’s world record by just two seconds.

In a thrilling race, the three-time Olympic track champion battled back to overcome a 13-second deficit at 35km, eventually winning by 67 seconds. Further demonstrating how incredible Bekele and Kipchoge’s times are, Birhanu Legese’s 2:02:48 for the runner-up spot places him third on the world all-time list, even though he was more than a minute back.

Completing an Ethiopian clean sweep, Sisay Lemma clocked 2:03:36 for third, while Kenyans Jonathan Korir and Felix Kandie were fourth and fifth with respective times of 2:06:45 and 2:08:07.

The women’s race was much closer and won by Ethiopia’s Ashete Bekere ahead of her compatriot Mare Dibaba, 2:20:14 to 2:20:21. Kenya’s Sally Chepyego was third in 2:21:06.

After his tremendous track and cross country career – featuring 16 world and three Olympic titles and his 5000m and 10,000m world records – Bekele’s marathon marks had not reached the same heights. His run in Berlin changes all that.

After leading through 5km in a fast 14:24, Bekele was part of the five-strong group which passed 10km in 28:52, compared to the 29:01 Kipchoge ran during his world record run in the German capital last year, though the Kenyan did go on to record a big negative split (61:06/60:33).

Lemma, Legese, Korir and Leul Gebrselassie remained in the lead group with Bekele through half way, where the clock showed 61:05 – a second under Kipchoge’s split from 12 months before.

Gebrselassie and then Korir were dropped, before Legese put in a surge around 30km. He ran 14:09 for the 5km between 30km and 35km which put him 13 seconds ahead at that point but Bekele had plenty left while Legese paid for his earlier exertion.

By 40km, after a 14:15 5km split, Bekele was 30 seconds ahead, with 1:55:30 on the clock.

He battled on, with the world record in his sights, and while missing it by an agonising two seconds, the 37-year-old later said that it “encourages me for the future”.

The finish of Kenenisa Bekele's 2:01:41 run at the #BerlinMarathon https://t.co/nIJLMnUosi

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) September 29, 2019

Fans will now be eager to see when Bekele and Kipchoge might clash, with the Kenyan currently preparing for his sub-two-hour attempt in Vienna next month, which, like his 2:00:25 in Monza in 2017, will not be record-eligible.

“I am very happy with this fantastic result, I am happy with my new personal best,” said NN Running Team athlete Bekele, who has endured a few years of injury struggles.

“Although I am sorry I missed the world record by only a few seconds, this result encourages me for the future. I know I can still run a very good marathon and I don’t give up.

“I want to thank everyone who supported me and kept believing in me.”

Among the British runners were Jonny Mellor, who ran a PB of 2:12:29, and Matt Clowes, who clocked a 2:13:57 PB. Scott Overall ran 2:14:40 and Jonathan Thewlis clocked a 2:15:52 PB, while Adam Hickey ran 2:16:56 on his marathon debut.

In the women’s race, 2015 world champion Dibaba, Bekere, Chepyego and Helen Tola went through half way in 70:20.

At 40km, Bekere and Dibaba were 17 seconds ahead, with Bekere the stronger in a sprint finish as she claimed victory by seven seconds.

Behind Dibaba and Chepyego, Tola ran 2:21:36 for fourth and USA’s Sara Hall a four-minute PB of 2:22:16 for fifth.

Britain’s Tracy Barlow was in the elite field and went through half way in 77:28 but her last recorded split was 1:53:13 at 30km.

Alison Lavender clocked a PB of 2:41:18 and Fiona Brian a PB of 2:42:51.

Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans reached the China Open main draw by winning their second-round qualifying matches.

They join fellow Britons Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund in the first round.

Norrie, 24, beat Ukraine's Damir Dzumhur 1-6 6-3 6-4 to set up a first-round meeting with Chile's Cristian Garin. The winner could face Murray in the second round in Beijing.

Evans, 29, defeated Canada's Vasek Pospisil 3-6 6-3 6-4 and will next play China's Zhe Li.

The tournament starts on Monday.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, 32, takes on Italy's Matteo Berrettini as he attempts to win a second ATP Tour match since January following hip surgery.

British number one Edmund, who is on the same side of the draw as Murray and Norrie, faces China's Zhizhen Zhang.

Simona Halep, Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka reached the second round of the women's event, which started on Sunday.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said she was "really riled" after making 26 unforced errors in a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) win over American Jessica Pegula.

Osaka won the Pan Pacific Open last week, her first trophy since claiming a second consecutive Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January.

"During tournaments the first match is always the worst for me," said the Japanese world number four.

"But I was kind of expecting it to be better because I just played really well in Osaka."

Wimbledon champion Halep beat Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson 6-1 6-1 despite back pain.

Williams, whose sister Serena is not competing because of a knee problem, overcame Czech Barbora Strycova 6-3 4-6 7-5.

Meanwhile, Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta claimed his first Tour title in two years with a 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) win over Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the Chengdu Open final.

Johnny Sexton says Ireland can still contend for World Cup glory despite Saturday's shock defeat by hosts Japan.

Sexton is set to feature in Thursday's must-win Pool A game against Russia after missing the Shizuoka contest because of a thigh strain.

"It's up to us now to put in two big performances and hopefully get ourselves in to a quarter-final," said the British and Irish Lions fly-half.

"And we know that if we can get there we've got a chance.

"We've responded really well in terms of the other recent setbacks.

"Things went badly against England [in August's record 57-15 loss at Twickenham] but we beat Wales back to back and started with a bang against Scotland."

Sexton picked up his thigh knock in the opening 27-3 win over Scotland when he was also excused from the majority of Ireland's goalkicking duties.

He was forced to miss the Shizuoka shock as Jack Carty and Joey Carbery both struggled for control in the number-10 role amid Japan's domination of the contest.

While Ireland ought to ease past Russia without issue, Sexton is desperate to get back into action as soon as possible.

'Hopefully I can pay back the squad'

"I picked up that strain against Scotland, and I wasn't going to train fully Monday, Tuesday," added the 34-year-old.

"The preparation time was so short the guys made the decision for me to sit this one out.

"You want to play every game but hopefully I can pay back the squad this week and next week too."

Sexton added that Joe Schmidt's squad have to be grateful that Saturday's defeat didn't end their World Cup hopes.

"In the last two World Cups I've been involved in, we've not cruised through the group, but we've had everything go our way in the pool stages.

"And then we've had the day we had yesterday in the quarter-final. And we'd be going home today.

"So the great thing now is that we've got the rest of the pool to get things together.

"We know to a certain extent things are in our hands if we can win the last two games and score a number of tries that we can definitely qualify for the quarter-final."

Some of the best moments from the Rugby World Cup including two tries that helped Wales beat Australia.

MATCH REPORT: Australia 25-29 Wales

MATCH REPORT: Georgia 33-7 Uruguay

Listen to every match of the Rugby World Cup on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

England back Piers Francis has been cleared to play after a disciplinary panel decided not to uphold his citing for a red card after a high tackle.

Francis made the tackle on United States full-back Will Hooley during England's 45-7 win on Thursday.

The panel said the tackle ought to have resulted in a yellow card on-field and did not meet the red card threshold.

US flanker John Quill was sent off for a high tackle on England's Owen Farrell late in the match.

Australia's Reece Hodge and Rey Lee-Lo of Samoa received three-match bans after being cited for high tackles.

High tackles are under heavy scrutiny at the World Cup, after World Rugby introduced new guidance to reduce head injuries.

The high-tackle framework was announced after a World Rugby study found tacklers were four times as likely to sustain a head injury if their tackle was high.

Quill became the first US player to be sent off at a Rugby World Cup for his dangerous tackle on Farrell in Kobe and has been banned for three weeks.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The American Flat Track season concluded at Saturday’s Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys Meadowlands with the crowning of two new champions on the undercard and a statement performance from the outgoing AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines champion.

While Briar Bauman (No. 14 Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750) already clinched the 2019 AFT Twins title, the man he dethroned still had bragging rights in his sights. Jared Mees(No. 1 Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750) went wire-to-wire in the AFT Twins event to complete a perfect sweep of the season’s six Miles and end the year with a class-leading eight victories.

Mees was pushed throughout the shortened main by long-time rival Bryan Smith (No. 4 Crosley Brands/Howerton Motorsports Kawasaki Ninja 650), who was desperate to extend his streak of scoring at least one Main Event victory per season dating all the way back to 2006.

But while Smith closed on Mees late, he ultimately ran out of laps, coming up 0.766 seconds short at the checkered flag.

After the race Mees said, “I want to give another big shout out to Indian Motorcycle. Those guys are a phenomenal group of people to work for and work with, and I enjoy every minute of it.

“It feels good to come in and win the last couple races and end the season strong, and also to go into the offseason with a little bit of homework to do.”

The runner-up result was Smith’s second in succession, finishing up an otherwise difficult year in strong fashion.

Behind the battle for the win, Bronson Bauman (No. 37 Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750) fought his way past the works Harley-Davidson of Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Harley Davidson/Vance & Hines XG750R Rev X) to not only claim the final spot on the podium, but also put the finishing touches on a championship 1-2-3 for the Indian Wrecking Crew.

Henry Wiles (No. 17 Bandit Industries/DPC Racing/Wilco Racing Indian FTR750) edged Jeffrey Carver Jr. (No. 23 Roof-Systems of Dallas/Indian of Metro Milwaukee FTR750) by a scant 0.008 to round out the top five.

Dalton Gauthier (No. 122 D&D Cycles/Gobert Smash Husqvarna FC450) completed his remarkable comeback season with an uncharacteristically quiet ride to 14th at Meadowlands. But sometimes quiet is good, as that was more than enough to lock up the 2019 Roof Systems AFT Singles presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys championship.
“I don’t think a lot of people saw me as a champion in this class coming into the season opener,” Gauthier said, “‘Robby-Bobby’ McLendon and me worked together all year. There was a lot of stress and a lot of ups and downs, but we worked through it. I can’t thank him enough as well as my parents and everyone else who supported us.”

2018 AFT Singles champ Dan Bromley (No. 1 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) gave a valiant effort in hopes of repeating. He gave his all in a three-way tussle for the race win with Mikey Rush (No. 15 RMR Honda/Red Riders Rewards Honda CRF450R) and Ryan Wells (No. 94 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F).

Bromley, who needed to win to have any chance at the crown, finished a close third with Rush out-dueling Wells on a thrilling final lap to claim the victory.

The win was Rush’s fourth of the season to equal Gauthier for most in class on the year. It was also his third win in four attempts on a Mile in 2019, and actually bumped him ahead of Bromley in the final championship order (Gauthier 286, Rush 280, Bromley 277).

Rush said, “My Honda CRF450R ran on point tonight. American Honda came on board with the Richie Morris Racing team this year and helped build me awesome strong engines for these Miles.”

Cory Texter (No. 65 G&G Racing/Holeshot Powersports Yamaha MT-07) jumped out to a huge early advantage — both in the AFT Production Twins championship fight and Saturday’s season finale — and ultimately needed every last inch of that initial momentum to coast to what turned out to be a dramatic championship triumph.

After pulling nearly a second clear on the opening lap, Texter was overhauled around the outside by primary title rival Kolby Carlile (No. 136 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07) on lap 2. However, Carlile broke just two laps later, handing the lead, and a seemingly easy path to the championship, back to Texter.

Incredibly, with just two laps to go, Texter encountered mechanical issues of his own. He was left helpless as the field, led by Chad Cose (No. 49 Parkinson Bros Racing Kawasaki Ninja 650) and including title hopeful Ryan Varnes (No. 68 Varnes Racing/RoyBuilt Kawasaki Ninja 650), blasted past.

All Texter could do was continue forward at a snail’s pace, but that pace proved good enough to finish ninth and cap off a successful three-win, five-podium championship campaign.

Newly-crowned 2019 AFT Production Twins champion Texter said, “I had some tough years and for the G&G team to take a chance on me means everything… I stayed loyal to the team, and I couldn’t be happier with the bike they put underneath me. So many people sacrificed so much to make this happen. It feels good for a Texter to finally win a professional title. This is for all the times Shayna got close and for all the sacrifices my dad made. I can’t even tell you how much he sacrificed to get us where we’re at.

“I’ve been going to these races since I was two weeks old. This is my life. For me to finally getthis is a dream come true. It’s never been about making money or any of that stuff. It’s just been a lifelong goal for someone who grew up in this sport since they were a baby. This is awesome.”

Race winner Cose picked up Texter and took him on his victory lap. He said, “We’re brothers — it’s one big family and it’s great to see. Cory deserves it and his team deserves it. They worked really hard to get where they are.

Varnes finished second vent to end up just eight points short of Texter (190-182) on the strength of his own two-win, five-podium season.

James Rispoli (No. 71 Black Hills Harley-Davidson XG750R) rounded out the podium in third.

LOVES PARK, Ill. — Dale Nottestad “got the monkey off his back” as they say, scoring the victory in the 108-lap Big 8 Series late model stock car special during the 54th annual National Short Track Championships at the Rockford Speedway Saturday night.

Nottestad, the 41-year old driver from Cambridge, Wis., wheeled his Glass Wax/Take A Chance Construction/Smithback Farms/Fast Signs-sponsored Pathfinder Chassis Chevrolet SS to the victory at the high-banked, quarter-mile, paved oval.

Starting seventh in the 23-car field, Nottestad, the race leader from about the 36th lap, stayed out front in a race that was slowed by 10 caution flags and raced to the checkered flag with a slim lead over veteran Tom Gille.

Austin Nason, Brody Willett and series points leader and three-time Big 8 champion Michael Bilderback rounded out the top five.

In the past, Nottestad has been oh-so-close to a Big 8 victory during Rockford’s annual NSTC.  Nottestad, a five-time champion at Wisconsin’s Jefferson Speedway, had finished in the “top three” five times in the last six years without a win.

The day’s third fastest qualifier, Nottestad became the first driver to be a repeat series winner as he had won at Wisconsin’s Madison Int’l Speedway in June.

Coming from his front row pole starting spot, Tom Berens led the first few laps with Jon Reynolds Jr. moving to the front quickly.  Reynolds, a two-time Rockford late model champion as well as a four-time winner of the Big 8 Series event during NSTC weekend, led the way until Nottestad came up to challenge and eventually grab the lead.  Reynolds’ night ended with mechanical ills at about the halfway mark.

Nottestad seemed to be able to race away from the rest of the field during green flag runs only to see the yellow flag fly – four within the last 26 laps. Nottestad held on to the top spot with Gille making a run for the lead on the last lap.

“I was just driving and trying to hit my marks,” said Nottestad. “My spotter kept telling me that they (Tom Gille and Austin Nason) were battling pretty hard back there. I just wanted to make sure I hit my marks there (on the last lap). I kind of got in there too easy in the corner and got loose off of (turn) two. I knew I could drive off and beat him (Gille) to the line. The car was strong all night.  It never fell off.”

Gille, a veteran of Rockford late model action, turned in a strong performance after setting fifth fast time.

“We had a little issue with the 17 car (Nason),” said Gille. “Apparently he thought he needed to be where I was at on every restart.  It took about four laps for my car to really take off. The yellow at the end (with 15 laps to go) just killed us. If we would have had maybe three more laps, I think we could have made it real more interesting. I think we were the quickest car since about lap 80 on. I just ran out of laps.”

Young Jacob Nottestad, this year’s late model champion at Wisconsin’s Slinger Speedway, grabbed fast time honors with a lap of 13.506 seconds. Nottestad’s racing ended with a mechanical problem.

Rain washed out Friday’s opening night of the NSTC with a lot of racing packed into Saturday.  Other feature winners during the night included Robert Hansberry Jr. (sportsman), Kelly Evink (Midwest Dash Series), Max McNamara (Legends) and Bill Schott (roadrunners).

Earlier in the day, Michael Bilderback posted fast time for Sunday’s National Short Track Championships 250 presented by Crazy Times Pub & Grub with a lap of 12.789 seconds, pacing a field of 22 super late models.

LOCUST GROVE, Ark. — Picking up where he left off Thursday evening, Ricky Thornton Jr. cruised to the Race For Hope 71 title on Saturday night at Batesville Motor Speedway.

Thornton started in the middle row of the three-wide, 30-car start and grabbed the lead on lap one over Jordan Grabouski.

“I knew we had to get a good start. Kyle (Strickler, last year’s event champion) beat me on the start last year and I think that’s what killed me. We got out front and just kind of rode around and saved our stuff,” said Thornton.

Thornton Jr. went relatively unchallenged through the first 40 laps until the mandatory fuel stop. Grabouski, Terry Phillips, Tom Berry and Jason Hughes rounded out the top five at the break.

As the race resumed, Thornton jumped out to a comfortable lead once again. Meanwhile, Jordan Grabouski Racing teammates, Grabouski and Phillips, battled hard for the runner-up position.

In the closing laps, Thornton was mired in lapped traffic, which allowed Phillips to close the gap. Phillips came within two car lengths of Thornton with three laps to go, but he wouldn’t be able to mount a serious charge on the driver of the No. 20RT.

Thornton Jr. went on to lead all 71 trips around the high-banked three-eighths mile oval en route to becoming the first repeat champion.

“This track just fits my driving style,” continued Thornton. “You’ve got to be up on the wheel, yet conservative at the same time. We aren’t really a big team so to win this $15,000 here really helps us for sure.”

Phillips, Grabouski, 17th place starter Jake O’Neil and Tanner Black rounded out the top five.
The finish:

Feature (71 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, [2]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips, [6]; 3. 30G-Jordan Grabouski, [1]; 4. 0-Jake O’Neil, [17]; 5. 44T-Tanner Black, [14]; 6. 11X-Tom Berry Jr, [12]; 7. 12-Jason Hughes, [3]; 8. 5L-Cody Laney, [15]; 9. 62-Hunter Marriott, [24]; 10. 5T-Jeff Taylor, [9]; 11. 18Z-Zane DeVilbiss, [8]; 12. 35-David Stremme, [5]; 13. 77T-Tripp Gaylord, [4]; 14. 175-Ethan Dotson, [21]; 15. 01A-Drew Armstrong, [18]; 16. 7M-Peyton Taylor, [28]; 17. 02X-Jack Sullivan, [27]; 18. 8-Kyle Strickler, [16]; 19. 2A-Casey Arneson, [20]; 20. 3B-Eddie Belec, [13]; 21. G1X-Tony Anglin, [7]; 22. 7X-Mikey Bell, [19]; 23. (DNF) 6M-Wendell Wallace, [23]; 24. (DNF) 601-Curtis Cook, [11]; 25. (DNF) 32-D.J. Shannon, [29]; 26. (DNF) 83-Kellen Chadwick, [26]; 27. (DNF) 12J-Jason Ingalls, [10]; 28. (DNF) 31M-Travis Mosley, [25]; 29. (DNF) 96T-R.C. Whitwell, [30]; 30. (DNF) 2T-Tyler Stevens, [22]

FONDA, N.Y. — When Brett Deyo took the promotional reins at Fonda Speedway this season, one of his goals was to bring the dormant Fonda 200 back bigger and better than ever.

Stewart Friesen, who left the venerable speedway with a $53,000 check early Sunday morning after dominating the rain-delayed event, will be the first to tell you he succeeded.

“The money here beats what I got for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series win at Eldora by a lot but that was a whole different feeling than winning here at home,” Friesen said. D

Almost as happy were Rocky Warner, who inherited second’s $20,000 payday when apparent runner-up Matt Sheppard came up light at the scales and third-place finisher Mike Mahaney, who collected some $10,000.

Friesen, who won a Friday night qualifier to earn the pole, led most of the race, at times building up a huge lead, but Sheppard, while not as good in the open, nearly got around him a few times in traffic and finally managed to edge ahead briefly on one of the never-ending restarts.

“Being out there in clean air helped, so all the restarts were great for me,” said the winner.  “I thought I’d really screwed up when I let Sheppard by on the bottom late in the race, so once I got the lead back, I parked it on the bottom whenever I got to lapped cars.”

The first half of the 200 looked more like a sprint, as everyone knew a storm front was approaching from the west and wanted to be on the point when it hit, hopefully right after halfway.  Friesen led off the initial break, with fifth-starting Andy Bachetti shooting to second by lap ten and drawing in on Friesen.

But Bachetti began to fade in the 20-lap range and by the time the third yellow flew on lap 26, the third-starting Warner stood second and began challenging Friesen.

They ran that way through traffic until a lap 45 restart that saw rookie David Schilling dive under Warner to take second. By then it was sprinkling but luckily the downpour did not appear until the field was under caution on lap 72.

The race was then red-flagged and the cars sent to the pits to await the restart, which finally came at 10:50 p.m. after the intermittent rain finally quit, allowing the track crew to blade and then run in the racing surface.

Friesen, Mahaney and a number of other contenders took advantage of the caution laps run before the green reappeared to short pit, handing the lead to Warner, who promptly lost it to Sheppard.

But by the time the “make a choice” halfway break came, Friesen had climbed back to the top 10 with his major pit stop done.

He and Mahaney joined the dozen cars that elected to go to the infield and get fuel, tear offs and an air pressure adjustment while the remainder of the field went to the hot pit, where they could do anything to their cars on the ten minute break but had to go to the rear of the field.  Some, like Sheppard, did major work and when he returned to the speedway, he was faster than ever.

Matt DeLorenzo led the field to green for the second half but two laps later Friesen, who lined up sixth for that restart, split Mahaney and Danny Varin to snare second and after five more trips around the big half mile he was back in the catbird seat.

Sheppard flew from the rear to second after making his adjustments and even got the lead away from Friesen on a lap-177 restart.

But yet another restart two laps later gave Friesen another chance and that time he not only prevailed, he cranked it up and drove away from Sheppard, whose only hope was a last lap dive into turns three and four when they hit traffic again but it came up short.

They took the checkers that way with Warner third ahead of Mahaney, Billy Decker, Hearn, Brian Pessolano, Anthony Perrego, Bryan Gleason, Schilling and Bobby Varin.

“I didn’t want the track to rubber up,” tipped Warner, the 2019 track champion. “Once that happens, you can’t pass these guys, though I did get by Sheppard at the scales.”

“I got tight when it locked down,” said Mahaney. “Then you have to be in the right place unless you’re Friesen.  He can run anywhere here.

Tim Hartman notched a $1,500 win in the sportsman feature, topping Chad Edwards, Joe Williams, Mark Mortensen and Brian Borst with a flag to flag run after picking the pole in the redraw.