Bahrain successfully defended their title yesterday in the women’s race at the 2024 World Military Half-Marathon Championship, held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Tigist Gashaw triumphed in the 21.1-kilometre run to claim an individual gold medal and spearhead her compatriots to capturing the teams’ gold.
Gashaw won with a winning time of one hour nine minutes 37 seconds. She was joined on the podium by teammate and silver-medallist Violah Jepchumba, who finished in 1:10:14, while former Olympic champion Ruth Jebet came third in 1:11:07 to complete a sweep of the medals for the kingdom.
With their combined finishing times, the Bahrainis also secured the women’s teams’ title, with Morocco taking second place and Kenya third.
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s men also came away with a number of accolades. Abraham Cheroben took home an individual silver medal in the men’s race and narrowly missed out on gold. He was just two seconds behind winner Mehdi Frere of France, who secured first place in 1:02:43. Bahraini teammate Albert Rop also stepped onto the men’s race podium, taking the bronze medal in a time of 1:02:52.
Cheroben and Rop were joined in the run by Bahrain’s Bacha Zelalem. Together, they took the bronze in the men’s teams’ category, classified behind winners Morocco and runners-up France.
The World Military Half-Marathon Championship was conducted by the International Military Sports Council (CISM) for the second year in a row. It featured 260 elite athletes, both women and men, representing 32 nations from around the world.
On the occasion of the Bahraini teams’ achievements, Bahrain Defence Force commander-in-chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa extended his sincere congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
Last year, the inaugural World Military Half-Marathon Championship was held in Lucerne, Switzerland. Jepchumba was the top finisher in the women’s race, taking individual gold with Jebet claiming the silver.
They also took home the women’s team title, joined by Gashaw and Roselidah Jepketer. Amongst the men, Cheroben came fourth individually and Zelalem 12th as they missed out on a teams’ medal.
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