Adola, Shimeles lead Ethiopian sweep at Rotterdam Marathon

Guye Adola Wins Rotterdam Marathon in 2:03:54 as Shimeles Breaks Women’s Course Record

Ethiopia’s Guye Adola surged to victory at the 45th NN Marathon Rotterdam on Sunday, crossing the finish line in 2:03:54 to claim his first major marathon title since winning the 2021 Berlin Marathon. In the women’s race, compatriot Mekides Shimeles shattered a 14-year-old course record with a time of 2:18:56.olympics

Adola Turns Back the Clock

Adola, 35, produced a decisive late move to pull away from a competitive field that included Belgium’s Bashir Abdi, the course record holder and home crowd favorite. Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Deriba finished second in 2:04:15, while Abdi came home third in 2:04:19. Adola’s winning time fell just short of Abdi’s course record of 2:03:36, set in 2021 when he also broke the European marathon record.facebook

The race took place on Rotterdam’s famously flat and fast course, which winds across the Erasmus Bridge and through the city’s harbor district before finishing on the Coolsingel boulevard.nnmarathonrotterdam

Shimeles Rewrites the Record Books

The women’s race produced the day’s headline performance. Shimeles, running for the dsm-firmenich Running Team, eclipsed the previous course record of 2:18:58 set by Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana in 2012. Aminet Ahmed finished second, with Bahrain’s Shitaye Eshete in third.world-track

Ethiopian Dominance Continues

The results underscored Ethiopia’s continued stranglehold on elite marathon running. Earlier this year, Olympic champion Tamirat Tola won the Doha Marathon in a course record 2:05:40, leading an Ethiopian sweep of the top five places. Sunday’s Rotterdam double by Adola and Shimeles extended that momentum heading into a packed spring marathon season, with the Boston Marathon set for next week.olympics