World champion Chelimo wins women’s marathon at Asian Games

Jakarta: World champion Rose Chelimo has won the Asian Games women’s marathon for Bahrain in a hot and humid race in the Indonesian capital.

The Kenya-born Chelimo had a big lead by the 30-kilometre mark and won in 2 hours, 34 minutes and 51 seconds.

Chelimo represented Kenya internationally before switching to represent Bahrain ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she finished eighth.

She won the world championship title in London last year. Keiko Nogami won Japan’s second straight silver, holding off North Korea’s Kim Hye Song and finishing more than one and half minutes behind Chelimo.

“It’s a silver medal, so there’s still room for improvement,” Nagomi said. “I hope to use this as a springboard.”

Japan picked up their first men’s Asian Games marathon gold medal in 32 years on Saturday when Hiroto Inoue held off his Bahraini rival Elhassan Elabbassi in a sprint finish in the first final of the track and field program at Jakarta.