MASERU – Top local marathoner Khoarahlane Seutloali has qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after finishing fifth in 2:11:04 in the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon on Sunday. The race was an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Gold Level event.
sports
Sept. 19, 2019
TEBOHO JAFETA
2 min read
Seutloali qualifies for Tokyo Olympic Games
Khoarahlane Seutloali
Seutloali competed in the 42.2km event alongside fellow countryman and veteran Motlokoa Nkhabutlane who failed to make it through to the Olympics by finishing in seventh place in 2:12:09. But female marathoner ’Neheng Khatala who completed the race in 2:36:34 did not qualify for the Olympics as she failed to make the stipulated time.
Seutloali told Metro in an interview that he put a lot of preparation ahead of the Cape Town and was grateful his hard work paid off. “My goal was to qualify for the Olympic Games and my preparation for the Cape Town Marathon was specifically in that direction,” he said. He said most of his training was done alongside fellow marathoners Nkhabutlane and Khatala who also competed in the race.
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A total of 13 500 runners (both men and women) competed in this year’s edition of the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon. The race records show that this time around, female marathoners outshone their male counterparts by some margin. The top three women broke the previous course record of Helalia Johannes (2:29:28) of 2018. Kenya’s Celestine Chepchirchir had too much air in her tank and won in 2:26:44.
In the process, she appeared before Nurit Shimels Yiman who clocked in 2:27:40 and Gete Mindaye Tilahun who recorded time 2:28:32.The top four women ran under 2:30:00 in what has to be the best ever women’s field assembled.
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