Translation:
Thursday, October 21, on the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet, nine Kenyan athletes set out to set the world records for the 50km women and 100 km for men.
This Thursday, October 21 at dawn, the small peloton of 9 runners, three women and six men, set out for an extraordinary challenge: to tackle the world record for the 50 km women and 100 km men. The athletes had been preparing for this meeting for six months within the JC ITEN Training Camp, at Keynya, supervised by their French coach, Claude Guillaume.
913 / 5000
Translation results
10/21/2021 - Men's 100 km and Women's 50 km - World record attempt - Circuit Paul Ricard - 3 Elisha Kiprotich Sawe, 12Phillaris Jepkmoi Yego, 1 Chirchir Hillary, 10 Daisy Jepkorir Kipsugut, 7 Titus Kipchumba Kemboi, 2 Elkana Kimwetich Cherop
Everything had started well, the favorite for the women's record, Joyce Jemutai Kiplimo, well led by her “hare”, quickly picked up the right pace. The 33-year-old did not come far from the feat. With a time of 3h0014 seconds and 460 hundredths, she failed just 20 seconds from the world record held by Briton Desiree Linden. Ahead for the first half of the race, the athlete subsequently faltered before recovering on the last lap, to no avail. Obviously disappointed, the young woman suffered from the weather conditions, and in particular from the rain which hit the Castellet circuit in the early morning.
Translation types
Text translation
Source text
4186 / 5000
Translation results
10/21/2021 - Men's 100 km and Women's 50 km - World record attempt - Circuit Paul Ricard -
Joyce Jemutai Kiplimo: “I’m really disappointed, the last lap was difficult for me, I gave everything but suffered from the rain and the cold. I ended up narrowly failing. On the other hand, I broke my personal best, my country's record and the African continental record. I tell myself that I didn’t need much to reach the world record. I really hope I can try it again next year and get that record. I hope so with all my heart! "
On the men's side, all hopes were placed on 24-year-old Ezekiel Kemboi Sirma. Accompanied by his pace makers, he was almost 2 minutes ahead in the first third of the race. But then again, the weather got the better of his efforts, the cold rain which fell continuously for nearly two hours paralyzed the muscles of the athlete, who finally gave up at the 78th km, victim of cramps.
Despite this setback, Claudel Guillaume, the French coach of the 9 Kenyan athletes, wanted to highlight the performance of his protégés, who were not unworthy: “It’s a disappointment, but it was the weather conditions that ruined everything. Joyce was there and she achieved a very good performance, she became the second fastest woman in history in the 50 km! Without the rain she would have been able, I'm sure, to beat that record. For men, it's the same, the presence of rain ruined the possibility of achieving a performance over the 100 km ... "
Benoit Z, the organizer, also wanted to be a philosopher: “We feared the rain, and we could not escape it. That was enough to waste those precious seconds for Joyce. Obviously, it lacks the performance we expected, but that's okay because emotionally and sportingly, we have experienced something great. This event is a success. It is the image of what we wanted to highlight, that is to say solidarity. This day gives us wings. We will continue to support the JC Iten camp in Kenya and its athletes, because I am convinced that Joyce and Ezekiel have this record in their legs. "
The Circuit Paul Ricard Castellet, which hosted the event, proves through this approach the need to carry out meaningful projects beyond the sporting achievement.
"Our track is legendary with events such as the Formula 1 French Grand Prix, the Bol d'Or, the Truck Grand Prix, endurance races, sprint races, but also cycle races. The race therefore has its place at Circuit Paul Ricard. With Benoît Z, we share the same values, passion and investment in the projects we believe in, so it was natural for us to respond to the call of his team to provide our infrastructure and thus continue to create new projects ”comments Stéphane Clair, General Manager Circuit Paul Ricard.
This event was made possible thanks to the unfailing motivation of Benoit Z who decided to fully cover the costs related to the training course of 15 Kenyan athletes to follow the parenthesis imposed by the health crisis, which has leads many athletes to have to exercise a professional activity to meet their needs.
The day ended on a positive note, with the smiles of the nine athletes and the former European marathon record holder, with the promise to try again next year!
About Benoit Z
Benoît Zwierzchiewski (known as Benoit Z) is a French marathoner, former co-holder of the European marathon record from 2003 to 2018, and current record holder for France.
About the BZ TEAM (event organizer) A national running club, the BZ TEAM is under the status of a sports association which offers sports coaching, nutrition and wellness. He is also the founder of the COURSE DU DON.
The BZ TEAM is located in Marseille and has a team of 8 people. It works closely with the FFA (French athletics federation).