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Shelley impressive on World Half Marathon debut
World Cross Country representative Michael Shelley has finished 16th at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil overnight.
Making an impressive debut at the event, the 25-year-old crossed the finish line in one hour, four minutes and 44 seconds.
Shelley was originally nominated for selection after an introduction over the 21.1km journey at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon in July, which saw the young Queenslander take victory in a swift 1:02.41.
A former 1500m underage national champion, Shelley has found his niche in the longer races.
Victorian Mark Tucker finished 69th in 1:12:04. This was the second time Tucker has represented Australia at this event, having previously competed in the 2003 edition in Portugal, where he placed 55th.
Eritrean Zersenay Tadese dominated the men’s race winning the first prize of US$30,000 in a time of 59:56, nearly two minutes ahead of his closest challenger, Patrick Makau Musyoki (1:01:54) who was also silver medallist in 2007, with Qatar’s Ahmad Hassan Abdullah, the 2004 bronze medallist, taking third (1:01:57).
Dutch world record holder Lornah Kiplagat produced another staggering performance to retain her global road running title for the second time in the women’s race.
Showing no signs of the knee injury which halted her preparations, Kiplagat won in a season's fastest of 1:08:37 ahead of Ethiopia's Aselefech Mergia who lowered her personal best by over minute with a time of 1:09:57.
Full reviews and results can be found on the IAAF website
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