Milkesa and Tadu secured Ethiopian Double in Copenhagen Half Marathon

Ethiopian duo Milkesa Mengesha and Tadu Teshome took top honors at the much anticipated Copenhagen Half Marathon 2022. With 15 men finishing inside an hour at the World Athletics Elite Label road race, the event witnessed record depth.
Mengesha, the 2019 world U20 cross-country champion, beat a quality field to notch up his second half marathon victory of the year, winning in a PB of 58:58. Tadu, meanwhile, smashed her PB to lead an Ethiopian 1-2-3, winning in 1:06:13.
After a steady opening 5km of 14:02, the pace dropped slightly in the following few kilometers of the men’s race as the large lead pack reached 10km in 28:10. The leading contenders – which included Mengesha and his compatriots Amedework Walelegn and Chala Regasa, Kenya’s Felix Kipkoech, Vincent Kipkemoi and Edmund Kipngetich, and South Sudan’s Dominic Lobalu then started to increase the pace.
By the time of the 15km checkpoint, reached in 42:06, the lead pack was down to 12. They remained bunched together for a few more kilometers before Mengesha started to ease away, carving out a small lead before going on to win in 58:58. Compatriot Walelegn followed him home in 59:05, two seconds ahead of Kipkoech.
In contrast to the men’s race, which increased in pace as it went on, the women’s race started off remarkably quick but soon became a war of attrition as athletes tried to hold on as best they could.
When the first 5km was covered in a swift 15:19, most of the lead pack decided to ease off the pace, but TaduTeshome and Tsigie Gebreselama maintained that tempo for another 5km, reaching 10km in 30:40 inside both of their PBs for 10km.
Tsigie then broke away from Tadu and opened up a gap of 30 seconds by 15km, reached in 46:39, but it didn’t last. Tadu came back over the next few kilometers and caught her compatriot with about two kilometers to go.
Once she was in the lead, Tadu continued to pull away and she went on to win in 1:06:13, 22 seconds ahead of Tsigie, who was making her half marathon debut. Ethiopia’s Tiruye Mesfin almost caught Tsigie, eventually finishing third in 1:06:42.