The World Marathon record holder, Ruth Chepngetich, has every reason to thank her rivals for steering her to the Chicago Marathon title.
One of them is Sutume Asefa Kebede, an Ethiopian athlete who won the silver medal in the fierce competition. Kebede's time improved by seven seconds over the halfway mark of the Chicago race.
The first few kilometres of the race put her on a world record course, and she finished in 02:17.32, two minutes slower than her time from Tokyo earlier this year.
Since her family and teachers recognised her talent early on and encouraged her to pursue the sport, Kebede has become a force on a global scale.
She resolved to concentrate on the half-marathon after breaking the 25-kilometer national record as a teenager, She stormed the Beijing Marathon title in 2019, placed second in the Seoul Marathon in 2022, and wrapped up third in Tokyo in 2020 with a time of 2:18.11.
She shattered the course record and set a personal best when she blazed to victory at this year's Tokyo Marathon in 2:15:55. Kebede is one of the 10 fastest female athletes in the world.
The Chicago Marathon marked her first race in On's Swiss outfit. The athlete shared her thoughts after her first competition under a new sponsor.
"I'm excited to be part of the team and celebrate my first game with On here in Chicago," she said.
"In a short time, On has achieved great things, and the quality of the product is unmatched. I am very happy with the work I did to compete with some of the best runners in the world. I am happy to win a silver medal in my first race as an On athlete," she added.
Kebede was welcomed to the team by Niklas Bühner, On's athletics manager: "It gives us great pleasure to have Sutume join the On team.Her success is self-evident, and we think this partnership will stimulate more success," he said. "
"Sutume's outstanding performance in Chicago makes us proud. It is truly a blessing to have such a runner on the team, and we are eager to see what this partnership will bring in the future," he added
