Florence Kiplagat bags third consecutive win at the Barcelona half marathon

Florence Kiplagat bags third consecutive win at the Barcelona half marathon

“Queen of Barcelona” Florence Kiplagat once again registered a commanding win at the eDreams Mitja Marato Barcelona, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race.

There was widespread hope among organizers and fans of the possibility of Kiplagat setting a world record in Barcelona but 28-year-old had to settle for a time of 1:09:19 on Sunday.

This is 4 minutes 10 seconds more than the half marathon world record of 1:05:09 she set in the same City on February 15th, 2015.

Prior to the race, Kiplagat had herself admitted that a third consecutive record was unlikely citing her relative dip in form as the main reason.

However, she noted that her knowledge of the circuit and her usual pacemaker Marc Roig would ensure she produced yet another cracking performance.

Through the opening 5km in 16:31, Kiplagat nearly clocked a full minute outside the impressive 15:38 she posted last year.

However, despite small adjustments being made to the course in the hope that it was going to be faster, a combination of the relatively poor weather and her interrupted training in recent months, led to her relatively modest time.

“As I had suggested, I’m short of fitness this year so another world record was not in my thoughts today. In addition, it was very windy so running fast was difficult,” she reflected.

“I now return to Iten to keep on with my build-up for the London Marathon in April. I would like to make the Kenyan team for the Rio Olympics and try to get my first Olympic medal.

“I’m extremely grateful to the people of Barcelona for their support and hospitality and hope to come back next year to break the 1:05 barrier,” she added.

Sweden’s Isabellah Anderson and Portugal’s Jessica Augusto were separated by only 8 seconds for second and third places at the tape, with Anderson timing at 1:10:50 to narrowly beat Augusto.

In 2015, Kiplagat’s winning time of 1:05:09 shaved three seconds off her 2014 world record.

Tags:

Athletics Kenya IAAF Barcelona half marathon Kiplagat

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