Rose Chelimo of Bahrain won the women’s marathon of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta on Sunday. Chelimo, clocked a time of 2:34:51 to beat Japan’s Keiko Nogami who won the silver medal after clocking 2:36:27, while Kim Hye-song of North Korea was third with 2:37:20.
Chelimo led the race from the start with both Nogami and Kim trailing close until the 35th kilometer, where they started to lose pace. The 42.195-kilometer marathon kicked off at the Bung Karno Stadium (GBK) in Central Jakarta at 6 a.m. with a turning point near the National Archives in West Jakarta and culminating at the stadium. After the race, Chelima shared how Jakarta’s heat and poor air quality had caused her discomfort during the race.
Chelimo gained renown in 2017 in London when she became the first athlete representing Bahrain to win a gold medal in the World Championships marathon by clocking 2:27:11. The win on Sunday was a boost for Bahrain as its standing on the table rose from 25th to 20th place. Previously, Bahrain had pocketed two silver medals from runners Elabbassi Elhassan in the men’s marathon and Chumba Eunice in the women’s 10,000 meters.
Chelimo’s gold continued Bahrain’s recent Asian Games success in the marathon after Eunice Kirwa and Hasan Mahboob won the women’s and men’s titles in 2014.
