Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won his second Boston Marathon, two years after he donated the medal from his first victory to the city in memory of the bombing victims.
BOSTON — Ethiopian runner Lelisa Desisa finished first in the Boston Marathon yesterday, reclaiming the top spot in a race he last won two years ago when it was struck by a deadly bombing attack.
Caroline Rotich of Kenya led the women’s field, affirming African athletes’ dominance of the race.
Desisa, who famously gave his winner’s medal to the city following the 2013 bombing, pulled ahead to sprint down Boylston Street alone, finishing with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 17 seconds.
“Strong Boston!” Desisa shouted after he crossed the finish line, in a version of the ‘Boston Strong‘ motto that became the city’s rallying cry after the April 15, 2013, attack that killed three and injured 264.
He has no plans to donate this year’s medal.
“This medal is, I think it is for me,” Desisa told reporters.
Kenya’s Rotich had a more dramatic finish, besting Ethiopia’s Mare DiBaba in a sprint down Boylston Street, turning in a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes and 55 seconds.
Security was high near the starting line in Hopkinton, along the 42.16 km course and around the finish line in Boston, in recognition of the bombing, one of the most visible attacks on US soil since September 11, 2001. Desisa unseated reigning champion Meb Keflezighi of California, whose 2014 victory marked the first time that a US man had won the race in three decades.
Desisa, 25, ran shorter events before switching his focus to marathons in 2013, when he surprised the field at Boston with his fast performance. He started the race in 2014 but walked off the course with an injury.
The race comes during a pause in the trial of Dzohkhar Tsarnaev, convicted this month of killing three and injuring 264 in the 2013 bombing. Prosecutors and defence attorneys today are due to begin presenting another series of witnesses before the jury decides whether Tsarnaev will be sentenced to death or to life in prison without possibility of parole.
The idea of putting Tsarnaev, a 21-year-old ethnic Chechen, to death remains controversial in Boston, where polls show a deeply divided public. Four victims of the bombing, including the families of two of the people killed by the bombs and a couple who lost legs in the blast, have now made public statements opposing seeking death for Tsarnaev.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald