Chekwel triumphs at the Zurich Marathon

Feb 23, 2020

Juliet Chekwel set a new national record in the women’s marathon as she won the Zurich Marathon in Seville Spain in a time of 2:23:13 to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

ATHLETICS  SPORTS 

Juliet Chekwel (2h23: 13)

Gada Bountu (2h23: 39)

Sifan Melaku (2h23: 49)

Juliet Chekwel set a new national record in the women's marathon as she won the Zurich Marathon in Seville Spain in a time of 2:23:13 to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

The long-distance specialist has beaten Linet Toroitiche's record of 2:32:26 from the Hamburg Marathon last year. Chekwel is also the holder of the women's 10,000m national record that she set in 2015 in Rubin Italy.

Chekwel starred on the recently redesigned course that generally saw a vast improvement in the times set by the athletes in comparison to last year.  She beat the 2:24:29 previous course record set by Gutemi Shone in 2019.

She finished the race ahead of Ethiopian duo of Gada Bountu and Sifan Melaku to claim a landmark title. She has previously competed for Uganda in the 5000m and 10,000m.

With Chekwel's heroics, the national team's chances of going into the Olympics look promising and there is still time for more athletes to join her.

 

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