Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso Shankule Wins World Marathon Title to Cap an Amazing Year

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A year ago it was okay if you didn’t know who Amane Beriso Shankule was. She had debuted in an impressive 2:20:48 in Berlin for second way back in 2016 and won the second-tier Mumbai Marathon in 2:24:51 in 2020. Then thanks to COVID she did not run a race from January 2020 to August 2022.

Last year, she went to Mexico City on August 28, and ran an impressive 2:25:05 for the win at altitude. But that didn’t presage what would come next, a stunning 2:14:58 win in Valencia in December, in a field where she was expected to be filler for Letsenbet Gidey’s marathon debut. Instead, she gave the world record a scare herself.

Beriso took second in Boston this April, and now is the world champion. With her 2:14 pedigree and success in warm conditions in the past (Mumbai), today’s win wasn’t a huge surprise, just a validation of where she is in the sport right now.

QT: The Ethiopians handled the heat much better this time

Though Gotytom Gebreslase won this race a year ago, the rest of the Ethiopians have had an awful track record in recent global championship marathons as seven of Ethiopia’s nine entrants DNF’d between the 2019 Worlds, 2021 Olympics, and 2022 Worlds. Things were much different today as Ethiopia was running 1-2-3-4 late into the race, and while Gemechu and Yehualaw would fade, a 1-2-5 finish is about as dominant as you can get at this level.

QT: Worlds is a different type of marathon

While we’ve seen some crazy stuff in the marathon of late, including Daniel Do Nascimento lying down on the street while leading last year’s New York City Marathon, Tsehay Gemechu of Ethiopia dropping out of Worlds while in fourth place showed the race has a different calculus for many of the top entrants. Worlds is something they are doing not as their #1 priority. It is medal or bust for some of them, and as soon as that’s off the table, they are already thinking about their next marathon.

QT: Lindsay Flanagan knew a patient gameplan would serve her well in the heat

Flanagan was with the lead pack at halfway but got dropped when Wanjiru surged to break up the pack. She ran a smart second half of the race, however, managing the heat well and moving up from 13th at 30k to 9th at the finish. Flanagan told herself that top five would have been a “great” day and top 10 would be a “pretty good” day and was quite happy to take 9th.

This was a big improvement on Flanagan’s previous Worlds appearance (37th in London in 2017) and Flanagan was pleased with the progress she made from New York last fall, where she finished 11th and struggled over the final 10k. Flanagan felt that Worlds, with its warm weather and lack of pacemakers, would be great prep for the Olympic Trials in Orlando in February and will head there on a high.

“That was the goal: don’t do what you did in New York, fartlek back and forth,” Flanagan said. “And I think it paid off.”

QT: Keira D’Amato was disappointed to fade over the second half, but battled on to finish for her kids despite pain

D’Amato finishes worlds (Kevin Morris photo)

D’Amato entered Worlds with a realistic shot at the medal given her 66:39 half last month and felt good through halfway. But on the third 10k loop, D’Amato’s upper right leg/hip – an occasional problem area for her – began to give her issues and she had to shift into survival mode.

“I felt like I couldn’t pick up my right leg,” D’Amato said. “…That was one of the more tough ones I did…I went in wanting to compete and show what I can do and compete on the world stage, and when you have to shift your goal to just finishing, that’s tough.”

D’Amato said she considered dropping out during “every step” over the final 20k, but thought of her kids – watching in the early-morning hours back home in Virginia – and wanted to make sure she finished the race for them.

“I just wanted to show ‘em, if you can keep going, you do it,” D’Amato said.

QT: Surprise bronze for Fatima Gardadi

Gardadi was an unknown before today outside of Morocco. A former national champ in Morocco at 5000 (with a 15:24 5k) she moved to the marathon last year and won the Marrakesh Marathon (2:25) and followed that up by winning Rabat this year (2:25). But running 2:25 in the heat today at Worlds off a slow pace was a whole new level.