Ethiopian runner Deso Gelmisa produced a burst of speed in the final stretch, while Kenya's Judith Jeptum set a course record to respectively win the men's and women's race at the Paris Marathon Sunday.
Gelmisa won the biggest title of his career with the victory in Paris in cold conditions. He covered the 42.195 kilometers in 2 hours 5 minutes and 7 seconds – 14 seconds outside his personal best and ahead of the 2021 Chicago marathon winner and compatriot Seifu Tura.
Tura finished three seconds behind the 24-year-old Gelmisa, whose previous title came at the Porto marathon in 2019.
Morhad Amdouni finished third by setting a new French record in 2:05.22, improving the mark set by Benoit Zwierzchiewski in 2003 by more than a minute.
Kenyan Jeptum won the women's race by beating the course record in 2:19.48.
"The conditions were tough but I'm happy with what I did today," Jeptum said.
The race started shortly before 8 a.m. local time with a temperature just above zero degrees Celsius.
Jeptum was in a league of her own, surging ahead of her rivals before the 30-kilometer mark and never looked back as she beat the previous best Paris mark set by Kenyan Purity Rionoripo in 2017 by 67 seconds.
Ethiopians Fantu Jimma and Besu Sado were second and third respectively, more than three minutes off the pace.
