Chicago Oct 9 (IANS) Galen Rupp prevailed in the men s category of the Chicago Marathon to become the first American male winner of the event since 2002 while Ethiopia s Tirunesh Dibaba was the fastest finisher among the women.
The 31-year-old Oregon native who finished second at the 2017 Boston Marathon completed the course in 2 hours 9 minutes and 20 seconds on Sunday 28 seconds ahead of the defending champion Kenyan runner Abel Kirui reports Efe news agency.
The last time a US male competitor won in Chicago was in 2002 when Khalid Khannouchi took the trophy.
Rupp who won the bronze medal in the men s marathon at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics surpassed Kirui and the other favourites with roughly 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) left in the race.
At the 2012 London Olympics Rupp made history as the first US runner to win a medal -- he took the silver -- in the men s 10 000m race since 1964.
"It s just incredible. You train so hard year in and year out day in and day out and to have a race like this where it all comes together and be able to win in a city that really is such a special place to me given that my dad grew up here -- words can t express the feeling of crossing the line " he said after winning Sunday s race.
Dibaba a 2008 Olympic gold medallist triumphed in the women s race with a time of 2.18:31.
Kenya s Brigid Kosgei was second trailing Dibaba by more than two minutes. Third place went to American Jordan Hasay who set a new US record with a time of 2.20:57.
This year s 40th Chicago Marathon attracted 44 000 participants the most ever.
--IANS
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