Former champions Lemi Berhanu and Worknesh Degefa will be among the elite line-up when the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon celebrates its 20th edition on the streets of the UAE on 25 January.
The two Ethiopians – winners in 2015 and 2017 respectively – are key figures in the roll of honour of the Middle East’s biggest mass participation event, the only IAAF Gold Label marathon in the region.
Berhanu has performed well on the global stage but his best performances have always been on the flat and fast streets of Dubai. As well as winning the title four years ago in 2:05:28, he set his personal best of 2:04:33 when finishing runner-up in 2016.
Still only 25, Berhanu represented Ethiopia at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, finishing in the top 15 on both occasions.
Like an increasing number of elite runners, he has also prospered at the marathon distance in China, winning in Hengshui last year in 2:08:51, Xiamen in 2017 in 2:08:27 and Taiyuan in 2014 in 2:13:10.
WorkneshDegefa surprised many in 2017 by winning on her marathon debut in Dubai, beating a strong field of experienced marathon runners in 2:22:36.
Although she didn’t retain her title 12 months later, Degefa finished fourth in a PB of 2:19:53 in a race in which the top four women finished within 2:20 – the first time the feat has ever been achieved.

Olympic 5000m bronze medalist Hagos Gebrhiwet from Ethiopia won the eagerly awaited head-to-head against younger compatriot Selemon Barega by four seconds in the men’s 10km race at the Campaccio IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting race in San Giorgio suLegnano.
Selemon’s shoelace came undone at the start of the race, costing him about 40 meters on his main opponents. The pace was slow on the first lap and Barega managed to catch up with a big group formed by Hagos Gebrhiwet, Uganda’s Albert Chemutai, Britain’s Ross Millington and Italy’s Yohanes Chiappinelli, Yemaneberhan Crippa, Daniele Meucci and Pietro Riva.
Hagos Gebrhiwet broke away from Barega and Chemutai on the final lap with one kilometer to go. By the time Hagos reached the finish line, which he crossed in 29:18, his lead had grown to four seconds.
Barega, who became the fourth fastest 5000m runner in history when he clocked 12:43.02 in Brussels last year, finished second in 29:22 edging Chemutai by one second. Crippa finished fourth in 29:56, the best result of his career in San Giorgio suLegnano. Meucci completed the top five in 30:11.
After earning world 5000m bronze in 2013, world silver in 2015 and Olympic bronze in 2016, Hagos is bidding to win his fourth global medal at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. “I was aware that Selemon Barega had a problem at the start,” said Hagos Gebrhiwet.
“The problem with my shoes was my mistake. It had never happened in my career,” said Barega. “Luckily I managed to close the gap. It was a good race. I will now run in Elgoibar before a period of training in Ethiopia to prepare for the Ethiopian Cross Country Trials for the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus.”

Seyoum Kebede who boasted about making Mekelakeya capable of mounting a serious title contention faced a humiliating defeat at home to the hands of Adama. The four star general Dawa Hutesa led the massacre bursting the back of the net four times. “It is a dream come true to help Adama’s revival in the title contention,” Dawa remarked after the sweet away victory while Seyoum remained silent in fear of a backlash.
Though Mekelakeya managed a 1-0 knock-out quarter final victory over old rivals Saint George on Tuesday, it does not mean The Army side is in good form. One mistake from Saint George meant that Mekelakeya got away with that slander victory. But considering Saint Georges’ ten golden chances it was more to luck than hard work therefore Seyoum need to focus on building a humble side out of what he has under his command. Yes Mekelakeya has no foreign player but forget not it is the knock-out holder back from international fixtures.
Mekelakeya is a lone striker’s team with Menyelu Wondemu scoring six of the nine goals but the defense has given up eleven goals. Mekelakeya’s mid field is a slow moving machine fully dominated in both matches against Adama and Saint George. This is a breach of discipline breach that has led to two red cards in a single match, a weak defense, a one man strike force and slow moving mid field hard times are sure to come to Seyoum Kebede.
The wind fall mid week win over Saint George could boost the morale of Mekelakeya in the coming fixtures but if rebuilding the team does not take place, let alone title contention surviving in the league could be a high hill to mount.

The 26-year-old beat Medhi Benatia, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mane and Thomas Partey to the prize. The Premier League’s player of the year scored 44 goals in 52 games for Liverpool last season.
As well as inspiring his club to the Champions League final, Salah scored twice for Egypt at this year’s World Cup, having netted both goals in the match which took his country to the tournament for the first time since 1990.
Salah said his aim for 2019 is “to win something with the club so everyone is excited”. The BBC received more than 650,000 votes this year – a record for the award.
Salah becomes the first player since Nigerian Jay-Jay Okocha to win in consecutive years. The former Chelsea player signed for the Reds from Roma in the summer of 2017. He scored 15 goals and made 11 others for the Italian side in 2016-17 as they finished second in Serie A, their best league placing for seven years.
In a phenomenal start to his Liverpool career, Salah scored 19 goals in his first 24 appearances. He went on to beat the previous record of 31 goals in a 38-game Premier League season shared by Luis Suarez for the Reds in 2013-14, Cristiano