Awet Nftalem Kibrab ran in a time of 2:04.24 during the Valencia marathon, Sunday.
– An enormous sporting achievement. It is at the very top level, says trainer Atle Karlsen Mortvedt to NRK after the 3rd place in the distance.
Sondre Nordstad Moen had the old record of 2:05.48. Kibrab has been in high altitude camp for weeks ahead of the race in Spain. The training hours from there meant that the coach had hopes that the Norwegian record could be broken.
– This was his marathon debut. Awet is actually a track runner, so going forward his focus will be on the 10,000 meters during the EC in Birmingham in August, says Karlsen Mortvedt.
The coach himself did not get to follow the record-breaking race in the streets of Valencia.
– I should have been there, but I was one of the “lucky” ones who sat on the Norwegian flight to Valencia yesterday who had to turn around (due to the smell in the plane). I’m in Alicante now, says the coach about the plane that had to make a stopover in Amsterdam.
Karlsen Mortvedt does not rule out even more focus on the marathon eventually:
– It has not been decided yet, but there may be a 100 percent commitment to the marathon in the run-up to the Olympics in Los Angeles.
Kibrab was born in Eritrea, but has lived in Norway for well over ten years. He received Norwegian citizenship in 2021 and is running for Tjalve. There are only 13 runners in the world who have a faster time than the 30-year-old in the marathon this season.
Ida Robsahm also did her affairs well. She ran in a time of 02:29.57.