Jimicho, Niyonsaba and Chepkosch will fight for glory in the women's event at the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana

Tsehay Gemechu, an athlete from the NN Running Team, will seek to extend Ethiopia’s winning streak in the women’s Vallecana event.

World Over 3,000 Hurdles Champion Beatriz Chepkosz will be fighting for a place close to Brigid Kosgei’s event record (29:54).

Francine Niyonsaba will try to add Burundi to the selected list of countries whose athlete won the national championship – Nederlandine San Silvestre Vallecana.

The Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana was the temple where the great stars of athletics ascended. Among the women, sporting legends such as Paula Radcliffe or Tirunesh Dibaba imposed their law on the streets of Madrid, while Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei made her first championship in it, by destroying the test record (29:54) months before to achieve it. Stratospheric marathon record, still valid: 2h14:04. This year will be no different, and Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana Internacional will present a luxurious entry on the starting line at Concha Espina, which will fight to climb to the top of the podium in the Vallecas stadium.

Tsehay Gemechu, athlete of the NN Running Team, has a lot of experience on the asphalt, despite his 24-year-old age. The Ethiopian comes with the intention of prolonging the streak of her country’s athletes, who have won the last two editions thanks to Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Degitu Azimeraw. In her bag, Jamisho occupies fourth place in the 2019 World Championships for 5000 meters outdoors, sixth place in the World Championships for sprinting in the same year, and she is the African champion for 10,000 meters. Now more focused on the half marathon and marathon, Vallecana will run to try and lower her 10K best, an incredible time of 30:15, and dreams of Brigid Kosgei’s test record.

It will not be easy for an Ethiopian to maintain her country’s line. 3,000-hurdles world champion Beatrice Chepkosch is temporarily leaving the course with the intention of flying over the world’s best 10km. The Kenyan athlete, who won gold at the World Cup in 2019, is the current world record holder over 3,000 obstacles and has, among other accomplishments, a Diamond League overall – as well as 9 victories in the same events – and a fourth-place finish at the Olympics. Rio, and the Mixed Relay World Championships with Kenya in 2017.

The triangle of contenders for glory was completed at the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana by Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi. The 29-year-old athlete saw a change in her career, when hypermasculinity and a world athletics decision kept her from middle-distance events where she achieved impressive results: Olympic runner-up in Rio and world runner-up in 2017, as well as two-time indoor world champion, all it at 800 metres. Now, already established at the bottom, Niyonsaba has signed impressive performances, with a fifth-place finish at the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo, as well as several Diamond League victories in the 3000m.

International participant Prisca Chisang, already an Olympian with Uganda despite being 19 years old, completed a double bronze at the U-20 World Cup in the 5000m, and Mahlet Mulugeta, the current 10K champion in Ethiopia, with a better mark in the 10K. From 31:47.

Great personalities, athletics promises. So many talents came together on December 31st that the streets of Madrid come alive once again for a sporting festival that makes us dream of setting records.

The official presentation of the athletes arrives on December 30th

As usual, the day before will help to get to know the great personalities of the Nationale-Nederlanden San Silvestre Vallecana International. In the Daoíz y Velarde Sports Center, the spectacle of the race records handover, the best international and national athletes in the world’s top 10K will give their last statements before the big athletics party.

Place: Daoíz y Velarde Municipal Sports Center (pz. Daoíz y Velarde, 5. Madrid).

time: 12:00 pm.

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