Chelimo slams heat, pollution after marathon gold

World champion Rose Chelimo made light of brutal conditions today to scoop Asian Games gold for Bahrain with a runaway win in the women's marathon.

The Kenyan-born athlete produced a devastating break from the leading pack after the 25-kilometre mark in Jakarta and ploughed a lonely furrow as she crossed the line to win in a modest time of two hours, 34.51 seconds.

Chelimo's gold continued Bahrain's recent Asian Games success in the marathon after Eunice Kirwa and Hasan Mahboob -- both also born in Kenya -- won the women's and men's titles in 2014.

Despite smashing her rivals in a slow race to take gold, Chelimo admitted that Jakarta's heat and poor air quality had caused her problems.

"It was bad, it was too hot," the 29-year-old told AFP. "I felt something in my throat too. The air here, you feel like it's hard to breathe.

"I felt like I wasn't going to finish but I found some morale and hope to keep going. Thank God I finished with no harm."
"Nobody followed me so I continued to push the pace and then I was on my own."
"I felt then it was because of the air pollution but to be honest the heat was worse."