“It was falling, it was falling, it was falling…” France international Alice Finot was caught in a massive fall during the dangerous and chaotic start of the 10 km from Valencia on Sunday, where Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw came close to her own world record.
“Thank God it’s okay!” But I saw lots of burnt girls like after falling off a bike, they were crushed to the ground. Luckily, I was not in contact with the concrete, I was intertwined, ”said the Frenchwoman Alice Finot, world finalist in the 3000 m steeplechase last summer.
In Valence, this reputedly very fast 10 km brought together an impressive line-up of international runners in addition to amateur runners of all levels on Sunday, for more than 12,000 participants in total, normally divided into “airlocks” according to their speed. The organization has not yet communicated on the incident or revealed whether any participants were injured.
“The organization got it wrong. They released the amateur airlock too early, people rushed to the line. Security got in front of them to make room for the elites in front, but initially it blew up. There was a wave, it was falling, it was falling, it was falling. The starting line was not wide enough,” lamented Finot, who was able to get up and finish the race.
“People come to get a time, there is no more respect. Everyone thinks of their little time after doing their little training… ”In front, Yalemzerf Yehualaw failed a few seconds from his own world record by winning the race in 29 minutes 18.
The 23-year-old Ethiopian set the world record for the distance in 29:14 in February 2022 in Castellon (Spain).
On a fast course, she passed in 14 min 47 at mid-race helped by pacemakers before accelerating again to largely win the race with a pace close to 2 min 55 per kilometer on average. She had the second-best performance ever over the distance.
