Ethiopian, Kenyan athletes win Lisbon half marathon

Ethiopia's Ruti Aga and Kenya's Sammy Kirop Kitwara won the 26th edition of Lisbon's half marathon respectively.

Around 40,000 people took part in the race here on Sunday, which started at the 25 April bridge connecting the municipality of Almada and Lisbon, reports Xinhua.

In the women's race, Aga won in a time of 1:09.16, ahead of her compatriot Ymer Wude Ayalew (1:09.23) and Kenyan Linet Masai (1:09.33).

In the men's race, Kitwara finished the race with a time of 59.47 minutes, Keneth Kiprop Kipkemoi finished in a time of 1:00.05, and Paul Lonyangata finished in 1:00.11. Samuel Barata was the best Portuguese athlete.

Meanwhile, in the wheelchair competition, British athletes David Weir and Rochelle Woods beat the world record, at a time of 42.23 and 49.49 respectively.

Portuguese athletes Emanuel Rolim and Ercilia Machado won the mini marathon.

The annual Lisbon Half Marathon was inaugurated in 1990 and divided into men, women, and wheelchair group. To promote the sport event, the organisers also set up a mini marathon.