Tirunesh Dibaba Wins Half Marathon Debut

 The Olympic gold medalist on the track is now successful on the roads.

She prevailed in the 10,000m at this summer’s Olympic Games and now she’s the queen of the half marathon. Twenty-six -year old Tirunesh Dibaba won the Bupa Great North Run on Sunday, clocking a swift time of 1 hour, 7 minutes and 35 seconds.

Her time was the seventh-fastest run this year for the 13.1-mile distance.

In the race, Dibaba defeated New York City Marathon Champion, Edna Kiplagat, along with recent Olympic marathon gold medalist, Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia.

“I was running careful, because this was my first race at this distance. So I waited until in the last mile before I went ahead,” Dibaba said. “I expected to win today. And this race really helps me regarding my next step to the marathon.”

In the men’s race, Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang prevailed in 59:06, which is the fifth-fastest time clocked his year.

“I recovered well after the London Olympic race because it was not such a fast marathon,” he said afterwards. “Maybe I will now run another marathon this autumn.”

For More: IAAF