Samuel Tsegay Wins Silver, Eritrea Takes Team Gold

Samuel Tsegay wins silver medal in Copenhagen, Eritrea takes team gold (credit: Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

Samuel Tsegay Wins Silver, Eritrea Takes Team Gold

By CapitalEritrea,

Over 29,000 runners from 50 nations lined up to compete for the 2014 World Half Marathon title as the 20th IAAF World Half Marathon kicked off on a sunny Saturday in Copenhagen. The marathon route was 21.0975 km long and lead through the heart of Copenhagen to the finishing line.

The race surprise was Kenya’s Geoffrey Kipsang Kamaworor who won the gold medal ahead of Eritrea’s Samuel Tsegay who took silver and Ethiopian Guye Adola who came third putting pre-race favorites Zersenay Tadese and Wilson Kiprop in fourth and sixth place respectively. Eritrea won the team gold medal after a strong performance against a strong line-up of Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes.

“Watching the team standing on the winners podium and listening to the Eritrean national anthem during a prestigious event such as the World Half Marathon filled us with pride,” Feven an Eritrean student from Sweden said.

Hard to ignore by Danish TV, Eritrean supporters turned out in large numbers waving Eritrean flags cheering for the one man who could have written history on Saturday once again – Zersenay Tadese.

One Danish-Eritrean resident told TV reporters that Eritreans are very happy to see Tadese in Copenhagen and that he would be able to achieve the unthinkable by winning for the sixth time gold during a Half Marathon World Championships.

Despite Tadese’s fourth place Eritrea’s team gold medal is great milestone for the future of Eritrean marathon putting other Eritrean names on the map.

Five Eritreans are among the top ten athletes crossing the finishing line first.

Samuel Tsegay (Eritrea) who finished 2nd place (59:20) behind Geoffrey Kipsang Kamaworor (Kenya) 1st place (59:07) ahead of Guye Adola (Ethiopia) 3rd place (59:20), Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) 4th place (59:37), Nguse Amlosom (Eritrea) 5th place (59:59) ahead of Kenyan Wilson Kiprop (Kenya) 6th place (1:00), Girmay Ghebreselasie (Eritrea) 7th place (1:00,09) and Samsong Gebreyohannes (Eritrea) 8th place (1:00,12).

Eritrea’s team title brought Tadese’s medal tally at the World Half Marathon Championships to a record 13.

Eritrea’s Letekidan Ghebreaman, Nebiat Habtemariam and Luula Berhane hit the streets of Copenhagen for Eritrea during the women’s half marathon competition.

During a press conference ahead of the race, IAAF President Lamine Diack announced that Copenhagen would be the first winners of the Athletics Better World award, given to mark excellence in social responsibility.

Results 

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