Kavanagh, Chaumeton and Tshite Shine for SA at WRRC
Kavanagh misses medal by one second in 5km
In form, Tyla Kavanagh produced the standout result at the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen at the weekend, finishing just one second outside the medals and establishing a new national 5km road record.
In a race won by Ethiopian Likina Amebaw, the 25-year-old Kavanagh, who has had a stellar season on both the road and track, finished just 11 seconds back in a field stacked with the world’s best athletes.
Maxime Chaumeton and Tshepo Tshite were next best, both finishing 10th in their respective events. Chaumenton finished 10th in the 5km in 13:13 while Tshite finished tenth in the mile event in a personal best 3:55.66.
Here’s a full wrap of the results and the South African performances:
HALF MARATHON
Men’s Race
Sweden’s Andreas Almgren outkicked Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkorir to win the half marathon title.
They were closely matched throughout but Almgren timed his finishing surge to perfection. Moving away from Kipkorir down the final stretch past Parken, the 31-year-old earned his first global gold – adding the title to his world 10 000m bronze from Tokyo last year and the European 10,000m title he won last month.
Almgren improved his own European record by 35 seconds to move to ninth on the world all-time list. He won by five seconds ahead of Kipkorir, while Uganda’s multiple Olympic and world champion Joshua Cheptegei earned bronze in a PB of 58:26. Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku finished fourth in a PB of 58:35, matching his position at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee in January.
SA results:
22 Cwenge Nose 1:01.09 PB
87 Elroy Galant 1:04.41
DNF Ngconde Matwebu
Women’s Race
Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich stormed to a women-only world half marathon record of 1:05:15* to win her second global title of the year.
Dominating the race, the 25-year-old won by 50 seconds ahead of her teammate Veronica Loleo to add the world half marathon title to the world cross-country crown she claimed in Tallahassee in January.
Like in Tallahassee, Ngetich was a class apart. As she strode over the finish line, she took one second off the world record for a women-only race of 1:05:16 set by her compatriot Peres Jepchirchir when winning the world half marathon title in Gdynia in 2020.
Ngetich now holds three world records – adding this latest performance to her world 10km records of 28:46 set in a mixed race and 29:27 achieved in a women-only race.
SA Results
13 Glenrose Xaba 1:07.49
70 Cacisile Sosibo 1:14.00
71 Karabo Mailula 1:14.21 PB
Team: 10th
5KM
Men
Dawit Seare produced a superb late surge to deny Jakob Ingebrigtsen and claim the men’s 5km title.
The Eritrean – who won the African 5000m title earlier this year – overtook Ingebrigtsen in the closing stages of a fiercely contested race, crossing the line in a national record of 12:56. Ingebrigtsen, who briefly looked to have made the decisive move, followed three seconds later in a Norwegian record of 12:59, while Seare’s teenage teammate Saymon Amanuel completed the podium in a PB of 13:00.
For Seare, who finished fourth at the inaugural World Road Running Championships in Riga three years ago while still a teenager, victory completed his progression to the top of the global podium.
SA Results
10 Maxime Chaumeton 13:13
34 Thapelo Ramakhoase 13:43
Women
Likina Amebaw added another global title to her collection just six days on from claiming the Ultimate 5000m crown, securing a dominant 5km victory.
The Ethiopian 28-year-old took control of the race during the first kilometre and made her winning move as she reached the 4km mark, kicking away from Kenya’s Caroline Gitonga.
Her rivals had no response, leaving Amebaw enough time to celebrate on her approach to the finish line, which she crossed with her arms raised in 14:41. Gitonga secured silver in 14:48, while Australia’s Rose Davies finished strongly to clinch bronze in an Oceanian record of 14:50.
SA Results
4 Tayla Kavanagh 14:51
32 Zanthe Taaljard 16:11 PB
MILE
Men
Robert Farken timed his challenge to perfection to win the men’s road mile, charging past Yared Nuguse in the closing stages to triumph in a world-leading German record of 3:51.80.
The German produced his decisive move at almost exactly the same point on the V-shaped Copenhagen course as Agathe Guillemot had done in the women’s race 20 minutes earlier, overhauling long-time leader Nuguse before powering towards the finish near Parken Stadium.
Farken’s 3:51.80 moved him to second on the world all-time list for the road mile, behind only Elliot Giles’ world record of 3:51.3. Nuguse held on for silver in a season’s best of 3:52.33, while Luxembourg’s Ruben Querinjean produced one of the surprises of the championships to take bronze in a national record of 3:52.77.
Nuguse had spoken before the race of challenging Giles’ world record and made his intentions clear from the gun. The Olympic 1500m bronze medallist immediately went to the front and quickly opened a small gap, his long stride stretching the field behind him into a V formation as they raced along Østerbrogade towards Trianglen. Jake Heyward was the closest pursuer, a stride or so back, with Farken settled in third.
SA Results
10 Tshepo Tshite 3:55.66 PB
35 Dumisani Motloung 4:04.21
Women
Agathe Guillemot produced a perfectly timed finish to claim the women’s road mile title at the World Athletics Road Running Championships Copenhagen 26, clocking a world-leading European record of 4:22.74 on Saturday (19).
The French 27-year-old remained patient as a large lead group stayed together for much of the V-shaped course through Copenhagen, before moving to the front with little more than 20 seconds of racing remaining and kicking decisively for the first individual global title of her career.
Three years after taking silver at the inaugural World Road Running Championships in Riga, Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu again finished second, this time in a season’s best of 4:24.35. Kenya’s Mirriam Cherop earned bronze in 4:25.71, also a season’s best, while home favourite Annemarie Nissen delighted the Danish crowd by finishing fourth in a PB of 4:26.78.
Guillemot’s winning time took almost half a second off the previous European record of 4:23.25 set by Jemma Reekie in Dusseldorf earlier this month and moved the Frenchwoman to fourth on the world all-time list.
SA Results
15 Karabo More 4:33.27 PB
31 Carina Viljoen 4:43.28 SB
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