Ruth Chepngetich Runs Under 32 Degrees Celsius Heat To Win Gold

Kenyan athlete Ruth Chepngetich has pocketed gold in the women’s marathon title at the 2019 IAAF Championships happening in Doha, Qatar.

Ruth Chepngetich was among the few athletes who endured the harsh conditions that saw a number of participants quit the race. The temperatures are to the extreme in Qatar at the moment.

The harsh conditions compelled the organizers to let the competition take place in the middle of the night when the conditions were a little manageable.

Ruth opened a basket of gold for Kenyans on Saturday night after sweeping over other contestants in a record time of 2 hours, 32 minutes and 43 seconds.

The harsh conditions saw 28 of the 68 starters withdrawing. The temperatures were at 32 degrees Celsius despite the fact that it was happening at midnight. The humidity had reached 70 percent, conditions that most athletes could not stomach.

Ethiopia’s Marathon coach Haji Adillo Roba has been left a frustrated man after his three top athletes pulled out of the race, including Ruti Aga, who has won the Tokyo Marathon.

Kenyan born, but now a Bahrain and who was also a defending champion, Ruth Chelimo, came in second after shedding off 2 hours, 33 minutes and 46 seconds. Helalia Johannes of Namibia who holds the Commonwealth title was third with 2 hours, 34 minutes and 15 seconds.

Purdue, the third fasted British female marathon runner in history could not endure the conditions and had to withdraw.

Kenya is known for her enduring athletes in the world over. As other athletes seem to run out of gas, and even collapsing at the end of the race, Ruth Chepngetich was as strong as ever, baffling even the organizers.

The race was basically a two-horse race between two Kenyans only that one switched citizenship, Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya) and Ruth Chelimo (Bahrain). Kenyans are expected to bring in more gold medals.