2019 Okpekpe international IAAF Silver Label 10km Road Race winner, Sheila Chelangat of Kenya has set a new African 10km all-comers record at the 10km de Port-Gentil, an IAAF Bronze Label race, in Gabon on Sunday.
Chelangat who ran 33.14 to win her first ever Okpekpe title in May won her second 10km title on African soil in 2019 at the event in Gabon, crossing the line in 30:55 to clip 41 seconds from the continental all-comers mark set by Ruth Chepngetich at this race in 2017.
It was also the third road victory for Chelangat this year, who set her previous career best of 31:01 at Valenciennes, France, in March.
Zack Amodu, director of organisation for the Okpekpe international 10km road race says Chelangat’s feat is a confirmation of the quality of elite athletes paraded at the seventh edition of the first and only IAAF silver label road race in Nigeria nay West Africa.
‘This is a confirmation of how big the Okpekpe race is and the quality of our elite field for the seventh edition held on May 25, 2019 at the hilly and rusty town of Okpekpe in Etsako East Local Governemnet area of Edo state,” said
Amodu who recalled that Ethiopia’s Leul Gebrselasie who set a new world class personal best time of 2:04:02 in the full marathon after emerging winner of the men’s race at the 2017 Okpekpe international 10km road race.
Amodu assures that organisers of the race will continue to get the best legs available all over the world to compete in the first road race in Nigeria to not only have its race course measured by an IAAF/AIMS accredited measurer but also to get an IAAF label status in 2015.
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