The Hans India: Edna Kiplagat recovered from a fall late in the race Saturday to lead a Kenyan sweep in the women’s marathon on the opening day of the athletics world championships.The New York Marathon champion won the race in 2 hours, 28 minutes, 43 seconds to claim the first gold medal of the competition. As she entered the second-to-last water station, Kiplagat crossed in front of team-mate Sharon Cherop, tripped and fell to the ground. The mishap allowed Priscah Jeptoo to pull even with her team-mates before Kiplagat pulled away with three kilometres left. “I was a little shocked,” Kiplagat said of the fall. “What was in my mind was I wasn’t sure if I was going to pick up the pace again but later on I realized I could and was very happy.” Cherop finished 17 seconds behind in 2-29-00 for silver and Jeptoo took third in 2-29-14. Kiplagat, Cherop and Jeptoo broke away from the pack at the 32-kilometre mark to make it a four-woman race along with Bezunesh Bekele of Ethiopia, who finished fourth. Read Full: The Hans India
