Edinah Jebitok cruised to victory in the 1st Cross Internacional de Venta de Banos, the seventh Gold level meeting of this season’s World Athletics Cross Country Tour, on Sunday in Spain. The 1500m athlete clocked 28.44 with Ethiopian Likina Amebaw coming home second in 29:53 as Emine Mechaal of Turkey completed the podium positions in 30:53Jebitok capitalised on the withdrawal of race favourite and compatriot Eva Cherono to take the victory. The contest opened at a moderate pace, with Spain’s Carla Gallardo, Blanca Fernandez and Laura Luengo taking on the pacing duties, while 20-year-old Jebitok and Ethiopia’s Amebaw ran comfortably in the middle of the still large front group. Some nine minutes into the race, the Kenyan decided to push a brisker pace and none of her rivals tried to follow in her footsteps. In the men's category, Rodrique Kwizera of Burundi took top honours by registering 32:30 with as Ethiopian Nibret Malak came home second in 32:37 and Albert Chemutai of Uganda took the final podium position in 33:04.

Source: The Star December 20, 2021 18:05 UTC