Kenyan athletes dominated the 2023 Sands China Macau International 10K that took to Macau’s roads early yesterday morning.
The Kenyan runners not only won in both male and female groups but also filled the podium for the male group. They only took first and second place in the female rankings because only two Kenyan women were competing.
In the male group, Edwin Cheruiyot Soi broke the local 10K track record, finishing in 29 minutes and 16 seconds, six seconds faster than his compatriot Mathew Samperu. Joseph Ngare took third place on the podium with a time of 30 minutes and 33 seconds.
With these finishing times, the three Kenyans also placed in the top spot of each category and age group of the running event.
Of these athletes, Soi was invited by the Sports Bureau (ID), while Samperu and Ngare registered for the local race on their own initiative.
There was a disappointing performance from the mainland athletes invited by the organizers. Only Ren Guang Yue placed in the top 5 with the time of 31 minutes and 28 seconds. Zhong Zhi Ping, at 38 minutes and 13 seconds, placed 51st overall behind many local athletes who were not specifically invited by the ID.
The best local runner in the male group of the 10K race was Wong Chin Wa, finishing 19th overall with a time of 33 minutes, 59 seconds and 66 milliseconds.
After crossing the line, Soi said he was happy with his performance and win in his first time in Macau. Like several other athletes, he highlighted the track’s difficulty, especially climbing from the Avenida Panorâmica do Lago Sai Van to the Sai Van Bridge.
Two Kenyan women of note were Winrose Chepkorir, who crossed the line first with a time of 34 minutes, 22 seconds, and Lucy Ndambuki who finished a little over a minute later. Hungarian Zsofia Kovacs followed, finishing third at 35 minutes and 43 seconds.
Chepkorir also pulverized the previous 2021 record of 37 minutes and 24 seconds, taking home USD15,000 (MOP121,280) in prize money on top of USD10,000 (MOP80,853) from the overall win.
The first of the local women was Hoi Long, crossing the line with the time of 38 minutes and 22 seconds, placing seventh overall and second in her category group.
As in the male group, mainland females athletes invited by the ID fell short of expectations, with the best placed being Wang Dong Mei in ninth position overall, with a time of 40 minutes and 9 seconds.
The last position from the invitational category was Zheng Yu Lian, who crossed the line in the 131st position with a time of 57 minutes and 41 seconds.
In the shorter race (5 km), victory went to IP Weng Tou from Macau in the male group (17 minutes, 33 seconds) and Kong Kuan Wai, also from Macau, in the female group (21 minutes, 45 seconds).
