Disi eyes Delhi victory

AFTER a run of four gold medals on the trot, the sky is the limit for Disi Dieudonne when he lines up against some of the world’s best in today’s lucrative Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in India. The country’s long distance ace wants the lion’s share of the Rwf118.65m prize pie but knows that he will have to put in a splendid run to beat off the likes of Deriba Merga of Ethiopia and Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang. Merga swept last year’s edition with a new record time of 59 minutes and 15 seconds; one minute and 28 seconds less than the 2007 time (1:00:43) set by Disi. Early this year, the Ethiopian also stormed to the Sunfeast World 10K Bangalore. On the other hand, Kipsang, fresh from this month’s IAAF/EDF Energy World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham where he finished fourth will also fancy his chances after a second spot finish last year. Beside the trio, other contenders include Kenya’s Wilson Chebet and Ahmed Abdullah of Qatar. Before today’s race, Disi claimed it would be great to finish the season on a high. “I have had a good run in the last four or so weeks and since this looks to my last event this season, it would be great to finish on a high,” the 29-year-old noted. The ace heads into the Delhi marathon on the back of four wins in as many weeks. Last week, he clinched his fourth consecutive gold medal after winning the 31st edition of the Marseille-Cassis ‘Classique Internationale’ race. Prior to that, he had also coasted to victories in the 10,000m in Beirut (29:38.68), a 20km in Paris (59:33) and a Half Marathon in Reims (1:01:13). In the ladies category, it is expected to be a two-horse race between defending champion Aselefech Mergia and Kenya’s Mary Keitany, credited for clocking the fastest time this year (66.36) at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championship in Birmingham. Ends

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Disi eyes Delhi victory