Nibret Melak and Anchinalu Dessie produced world leeading times in Dubai’s jubilee marathon.
Another first-time marathoner continued Dubai’s remarkable tradition as Ethiopia’s Nibret Melak claimed a superb victory at the Dubai Marathon on Sunday (February 1), becoming the ninth male debutant to take the win.
Melak could hardly have asked for a more convincing introduction to the distance. From the early stages, the race hinted at something special, with a strong lead group of six men still intact as they passed 25km. However, it was at around 32km that the Ethiopian made his decisive move, surging clear and immediately stretching the field.
As the kilometres ticked by, the big question was whether Melak — untested over the marathon distance — could sustain the relentless tempo he had set. He answered by maintaining his pace all the way to the line to stop the clock at 2:04:00, the fastest marathon time of the year so far.
That mark moves him ahead of Olympic champion Tamirat Tola’s 2:05:40, recorded at the Doha Marathon by Ooredoo just two weeks earlier.
The 26-year-old arrived in Dubai with plenty of credentials. He owns a half-marathon personal best of 59:06, set during his victory in Lisbon three years ago, and later that season finished seventh at the World Half Marathon Championships in Riga. Earlier in his career, Melak also qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, although he did not progress beyond the heats in the 5000m.
More recently, he has enjoyed notable success on the track, winning the 10,000m title at the African Championships in 2024, alongside a silver medal over 5000m, before adding another 10,000m gold at the All-Africa Games later the same year.
“I was very well prepared, and it was always my goal to win my debut,” said Melak, who belongs to the same training group in Addis Ababa as Ethiopia’s Olympic Marathon Champion Tamirat Tola. “My big goal in the future is to break the world record.”
In Dubai, it was not only the winning time that stood out, but also the margin. Melak opened up a commanding gap over the closing stages, leaving the battle for the remaining podium places behind him.
Rwanda’s John Hakizimana and Ethiopia’s Yasin Haji fought it out for second and third, with Haji finishing runner-up in 2:05:52 and Hakizimana close behind in 2:06:04. Both athletes produced major personal bests — Haji improving significantly on his previous best of 2:07:47, set in Frankfurt, while Hakizimana bettered his former mark of 2:08:18.
An outstanding 18 men dipped under the 2:10 barrier, favouring the Dubai course.
The women’s race provided a far more dramatic contest, with the outcome not decided until the closing kilometres.
A half-marathon split of 69:27 set the tone for a strong early tempo, with a sizeable lead group forming. Throughout the first half, however, it was Ethiopia’s Muliye Dekebo Haylemariam who appeared most in control, repeatedly positioning herself at the front of the pack. Dekebo was making her return to Dubai, having finished 10th at the race on her marathon debut back in 2018.
As the pace increased beyond halfway, the field began to drop. Excellent pacing thinned the group significantly, leaving just two women in contention — Dekebo and her fellow Ethiopian Anchinalu Dessie Geneneh, the 23-year-old.
Dessie made a sensational debut victory in Seville last year, and arrived in Dubai with a personal best of 2:22:17. The pair ran stride for stride before Dekebo made her move with around 5km remaining, opening a clear gap and appearing set for victory.
However, the race took a dramatic turn at around 40km when Dekebo visibly struggled at a drinks station, losing momentum as she battled to keep fluids down. Dessie closed rapidly, passed her competition, and surged away to claim a memorable win.
Dessie crossed the line in 2:18:31, smashing her personal best by almost four minutes.
Dekebo regrouped after the setback and held on for second place in 2:18:43, also producing a massive improvement on her previous best of 2:25:35. Ethiopia completed a clean sweep of the podium as Fantu Worku, who had been the fastest entrant on paper, finished third in 2:19:08, bettering her own lifetime best of 2:21:57.
All three women dipped under the 2:20 barrier, underlining the speed-friendly conditions on offer in Dubai.
Including events at shorter distances organisers of Dubai’s jubilee edition registered a total of 20,000 entries. 4,000 of them were competing in the marathon which is a record for the biggest and fastest race over the classic distance on the Arabian Peninsula.