Ethiopia's Amane Gobena wins Osaka marathon

OSAKA, JAPAN (AFP) — Ethiopia’s Amane Gobena pulled away from nearest challenger Marisa Barros of Portugal in the last four kilometres to win the Osaka international women’s marathon yesterday.

The 27-year-old Gobena picked up the pace after the 38km mark to leave Barros behind, crossing the finishing line in 2’25:14.

“It was a very difficult and tough course. At the same time, it was very, very competitive. I’m very, very glad to win the race,” said Gobena, who bettered her personal best time of 2’26:53. It was her second career victory out of four starts.

The race was led by nine women including Sydney Olympic silver medallist and three-time Osaka champion Lidia Simon.

But Simon slowed down after 22km and last year’s runner-up, Yukiko Akaba of Japan, also failed to keep the pace after 28km, leaving Gobena, Barros and Japan’s Mari Ozaki out in front.

Barros came in second in 2’25:44, followed by Ozaki in 2’26:27, while Simon was fourth in 2’27:11.