Yimer and Wereta to defend titles in Seoul

Jemal Yimer and Fikrte Wereta will defend their Seoul Marathon titles when the World Athletics Platinum Label road race takes place on Sunday (16).

Two-time world half marathon fourth-place finisher Yimer ran an almost three-minute PB of 2:06:08 to win the men’s race last year, while his Ethiopian compatriot Wereta also clocked a lifetime best – 2:21:32 – to win the women’s race.

Yimer started 2025 by finishing fourth in the Houston Half Marathon and now prepares to contest the third marathon of his career.

Among those looking to deny him a second win in Seoul are the two athletes who finished behind him last year, Kenya’s Rhonzas Lokitam Kilimo and Edwin Kiptoo, plus four men who have dipped under 2:06 in their careers so far: Kenya’s Bernard Kiprop Koech, Philimon Kiptoo Kipchumba and Solomon Kirwa Yego, and Ethiopia’s Haftu Teklu. They will go up against other contenders such as Kenya’s Daniel Ebenyo and Mike Kiptum Boit, as well as Ethiopia’s Gebretsadik Abraha.

Koech ran his PB of 2:04:09 in Amsterdam in 2021 and more recently clocked 2:04:24 to win in Hamburg last year, while Kipchumba ran a Chinese all-comers’ record of 2:05:35 to win the Shanghai Marathon in 2023 and that mark remains his lifetime best.

Yego also set his PB in Shanghai, clocking 2:05:42 for third place in that 2023 race won by Kipchumba, and he matched that finishing position on his return to Shanghai last year. Teklu placed third in Seoul in 2023 and went on to finish fifth in that year’s Boston Marathon, clocking his PB of 2:04:42.

Ebenyo, the world 10,000m and half marathon silver medallist, made his marathon debut in Chicago in October, running 2:06:04 to finish fifth. He will be looking to build on that when he races the distance for the second time.

Wereta’s compatriots Mestawut Fikir and Bosena Mulatie could prove the biggest threats in the women's race as she looks to retain a title she won for the first time last year.

Wereta has had a strong start to the year, however, having finished third in the Xiamen Marathon in January and first in the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon in February.

Now she takes on Fikir and Mulatie, as part of a field that features a total of six sub-2:23 runners.

Fikir set her PB of 2:18:48 when finishing runner-up in Berlin in September. She also won last year’s Paris Marathon and ended her year with a second-place finish in the Boston Half Marathon. Mulatie was just one place and 12 seconds behind Fikir in Berlin, while Tanzania’s Jackline Sakilu ran her PB of 2:21:27 when winning in Chongqing.

Ethiopia’s Betelihem Afenigus is another athlete who returns to Seoul, the 23-year-old having finished fourth last year in a PB of 2:23:20.

They will be joined on the start line by Ethiopia’s Bekelech Gudeta, winner of last year’s marathons in Xiamen and Shanghai – the former in a PB of 2:22:54, plus Kenya’s Sandrafelis Chebet Tuei, the 2023 Shanghai Marathon fourth-place finisher (2:22:22).

Leading entries

Women
Mestawut Fikir (ETH) 2:18:48
Bosena Mulatie (ETH) 2:19:00
Jackline Sakilu (TAN) 2:21:27
Fikrte Wereta (ETH) 2:21:32
Sandrafelis Chebet Tuei (KEN) 2:22:22
Bekelech Gudeta (ETH) 2:22:54
Betelihem Afenigus (ETH) 2:23:20
Li Zhixuan (CHN) 2:26:15
Ayano Ikeuchi (JPN) 2:32:26

Men
Bernard Kiprop Koech (KEN) 2:04:09
Haftu Teklu (ETH) 2:04:42
Philimon Kiptoo Kipchumba (KEN) 2:05:35
Solomon Kirwa Yego (KEN) 2:05:42
Daniel Ebenyo (KEN) 2:06:04
Gebretsadik Abraha (ETH) 2:06:08
Mike Kiptum Boit (KEN) 2:06:08
Jemal Yimer (ETH) 2:06:08
Rhonzas Lokitam Kilimo (KEN) 2:06:09
Edwin Kiptoo (KEN) 2:06:10
Cyrus Mutai (KEN) 2:06:11
Ashenafi Moges Weldegiorgis (ETH) 2:06:12
Felix Kirwa (KEN) 2:06:13
Adane Kebede Gebre (ETH) 2:06:54
Stanley Bett (KEN) 2:07:00
Kibrom Desta Habtu (ETH) 2:07:05
Naoya Sakuda (JPN) 2:08:21
Suolang Cairen (CHN) 2:10:31
Ryuichi Yoshioka (JPN) 2:10:50