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Elite women's preview: Tufa returns to take on Keitany
Tigist Tufa will return to the scene of her greatest triumph when she lines
up to defend her Virgin Money London Marathon title against the woman she
beat to win the coveted crown in 2015 and the woman who won the world title
last summer.
Tufa upset the odds when she outran four much-fancied Kenyans to take
victory last year, becoming only the second Ethiopian ever to win the
women's race on a day that saw record numbers cross the London Marathon
Finish Line. Tufa was at the head of them all, producing a devastating
burst in the last three miles to clinch a shock win in front of two-time
champion Mary Keitany.
She returns to the British capital in 2016 determined to show that last
year's triumph was no fluke after finishing sixth at the Beijing World
Championships last August, a race won by fellow Ethiopian Mare Dibaba, and
third at the New York City Marathon where Keitany enjoyed her second
victory last November.
"Winning in London was the greatest moment of my career so far," said Tufa,
who won the Shanghai and Ottawa marathons in 2014. "I am happy to be
returning to London in 2016 to defend my title. I know it won't be easy
because the London fields are always the best in the world, but I am
determined to do my best again."
The 28-year-old denied Keitany a third London Marathon victory last year
and the Kenyan looks set to be Tufa's main rival in 2016. Keitany smashed
the African record with 2:18:37, the fourth fastest time in history, when
she won the London Marathon for a second time in 2012 but she needed a
sprint finish to secure last year's runner-up spot by one second.
Keitany is again the fastest woman on the start list, one of nine in the
elite field with personal bests better than 2:25, while four have run the
gruelling 26.2-mile challenge in under 2:20.
Dibaba is one of that quartet, with a best of 2:19:52. She is a former
Chicago Marathon champion who runs in London for the first time.
London's sub-2:20 club also includes Florence Kiplagat, the world
half-marathon record holder who won last year's Chicago Marathon. Kiplagat
runs in London for the fifth time in 2016 seeking her first victory. She
was fifth last year.
Aselefech Mergia, another of Tufa's compatriots, also falls into that elite
bracket. A three-time winner of the lucrative Dubai Marathon, the 2010
champion will be hoping to make the podium again after finishing fourth
last year.
The four-strong Kenyan challenge is completed by Priscah Jeptoo, the
Olympic bronze medallist who was a London Marathon winner three years ago,
and Jemima Sumgong, a former Rotterdam Marathon champion who was sixth in
2015, one place ahead of Jeptoo.
The European challenge is led by Portugal's Jessica Augusto and Volha
Mazuronak from Belarus. Augusto ran a personal best to place sixth in
London in 2014, her third top 10 finish, while Mazuronak was ninth last
year in a PB.
Tufa, Keitany, Kiplagat, Dibaba and Mergia will all appear at a press
conference at the Tower Hotel, London, on Thursday 21 April.
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