Jaafari and Desta Triumph at the 41st Firenze Marathon
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Italy’s Badr Jaafari and Ethiopia’s Tsega Mehari Desta delivered impressive performances to claim the top honors at the 41st Estra Firenze Marathon, showcasing strength, patience, and late-race dominance on the streets of Florence.
Men's Race
Badr Jaafari made a brilliant marathon debut, taking the men’s title in 2:09:58. The Italian pulled away in the second half to secure victory ahead of Ethiopia’s Asnake Negawo (2:11:22) and Kenya’s Ishmael Kalale Chelanga (2:11:53).
A five-men group formed by Emmanuel Kichwen, Badr Jaafari, Asnake Negawo, Ishmael Kalale and Joel Kositany went through the 10 km in 30:57, the 15 km in 46:33, the 21 km in 1:05:25. Shortly after halfway, Jaafari surged away from Negawo and Kalale, reaching 25 km in 1:17:05 with an 11-second lead.
His advantage grew steadily:
Jaafari increased his lead over Kalale and Negawo to 37 seconds, when he reached the 30 km in 1:32:10. The Italian athlete built a lead of one minute over Negawo at 35 km (1:47:32).
The Italian closed strongly, running a negative split of 1:04:33, underlining his growing status in Italian distance running. The 2024 Italian half marathon champion (1:01:48 in Cremona) also represented Italy earlier this year at the European 10 km Championships in Leuven.
Women’s race
The women’s race unfolded with an early quartet—Betty Chepkwony, Tsega Mehari Desta, Sofia Jebiwot Chesir, and Dorothy Kipkilach—setting the tone through the first checkpoints the 10 km in 34:14 and the 15 km in 51:22.
Kenya’s Sofia Chesir pushed ahead, reaching the halfway point in 1:12:35, 25 seconds clear of Desta and Chepkwony. Chesir and Chepkwony continued to work together, hitting 30 km in 1:44:14, one minute ahead of Desta.
But the Ethiopian stayed patient. After 35 km, Desta began cutting into the lead, eventually catching Chesir and decisively pulling away. By 40 km (2:22:31), she had built a commanding two-minute advantage.
Desta crossed the finish line in 2:30:37, securing a well-deserved victory ahead of Betty Chepkwony – 2:33:25 and Sofia Chesir – 2:35:40.
