Helalia Johannes finished tenth at the Sunfest World 10km Race in Bangalore, India on Saturday in a time of 34 minutes 4 seconds.

The field included some of the world’s top athletes like Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegesse, the world silver medallist for 10 000m; Ethiopian Berhane Adere, former world champion both for 10 000m and the half marathon; and Kenya’s African champion, Grace Momani.

Johannes stayed in the leading bunch from the start and crossed the halfway mark in a fast time of 16:05.

She however dropped off the pace over the second 5km, as Abeylegesse, Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana and Kenya’s Momani and Doris Chenwego pulled away from the pack.
Abeylegesse entered the stadium first with Momanyi just behind. They ran neck-to-neck over the last few metres and crossed the finish line together in 32:02.

At first Abeylegesse was announced as winner. However, on verification of the tape, both Abeylegesse and Momanyi were declared joint winners and each received US$16 000 for their efforts.

Chenwego came third and Gelana fourth, followed by two more Kenyans and three Ethiopians.

Johannes came tenth in 34:04, which was well below her personal best time of 33:07.
According to Johannes’ manager Dewald Steyn, Johannes proved that she could compete against the best.

“The conditions were very humid and did not suit Helalia, while she was also up against some of the best athletes in the world, but she gave a great performance and proved that she can compete against the best,” he said.