Joshua Belet and Meseret Belete win the TCS Amsterdam Marathon 2023

Kenya’s Joshua Belet and Ethiopia’s Meseret Belete won the 47th edition of the Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday. The 25-year-old runner won with an official time of 2:04:18, above the course record of 2:03:39 set by Ethiopian athlete Tamirat Tola in 2021. In the women’s contest, Belete won the 42.195-kilometer race with a time of 2:18:21.

Coming in second was Belet’s compatriot, Cybrian Kotut, with a time of 2:04:34. Ethiopian Birhanu Legese secured the third spot, finishing at 2:04:37. Belet took control of the race after the 30-kilometer mark with a burst of speed that was too powerful for everyone to follow. He completed the race solo, crossing the finish line in the Olympic Stadium. Belet clinched second place in the Hamburg marathon in April with a time of 2:04:33.

In the women’s race, Belete’s time is above the course record of 2:17:20 set by Ethiopian Almaz Ayana last year. Meseret Abebayehu, also from Ethiopia, came in second with a time of 2:19:50. Kenyan Dorcas Tuitoek secured the third position, finishing at 2:20:02.

Dutch runner Anne Luijten qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics by finishing the race in 2:26:36, meeting the Olympic entry standards by 14 seconds. She is the second Dutch athlete, after Sifan Hassan, to achieve this. Khalid Choukoud failed to run under the Olympic limit on Sunday. The 36-year-old Dutch runner finished the course in 2:08.36, only 26 seconds above the Olympic entry standards for men.

Right before the start, a sharp rain shower drenched the course. However, by the start time, the rain had stopped. The race began somewhat chaotically as the leading pack was large, leading to congestion at drink stations where athletes were reaching for their bottles. The wet pavement also proved treacherous in spots, and Bernard Koech, one of the race favorites, narrowly avoided a fall near the Rijksmuseum.

In terms of weather, the conditions were quite favorable for the leading runners. The challenging stretch alongside the Amstel River was calm, almost windless, with the sun shining brightly.