Elite athletes TCS Amsterdam Marathon on the hunt for fast times and Dutch titles

Today at the Vondelpark, the elite athletes of the TCS Amsterdam Marathon were presented during the press conference at VondelCS. A strong group will start on Sunday, including Cybrian Kotut and Lemi Berhanu. Khalid Choukoud revealed his 'all or nothing' tactics in battle for the Dutch title with Richard Douma. For Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba, a dream is coming true: one of the greatest runners of all time is making her debut at the classic distance. Just like her compatriot Almaz Ayana.

On the leather sofa, Valentijn Trouw of Global Sports Communication gave the floor to Cybrian Kotut. The Kenyan athlete who won the marathon of Hamburg, Florence and Paris is all set. "My preparation was perfect and my body feels good," says the 30-year-old athlete, who has a personal best of 2.04.47. His Ethiopian opponent Lemi Berhanu, with a personal record of 2.04.33, is also looking forward to Sunday: "I hope for a fast race."

Trouw explains that once again a nice and broad group with a high standard will be at the start of the marathon, which has been awarded the World Athletics Platinum Label. "If the wind dies down a bit more, it looks good for fast times. The expectation is that on the route to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, between 15 and 20 km, some time will be lost. The strength then is that on the way back, we will gain time and because of the wide group, there will automatically be good times on the clock," the athlete manager said. The course record stands at 2.03.39 (Tamirat Tola (Eth.) 2021). 

Among the women, we are looking forward to the debut of both Genzebe Dibaba and Almaz Ayana. Two Ethiopian women who have achieved very impressive performances. For instance, Dibaba is the world record holder on the 1,500 metres. And Ayana became Olympic champion at the 10,000 metres in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Dibaba indicates with a modest smile that her dream of running a marathon will come true on Sunday. "I am going for a good time and a good position," she says. Ayana adds that she has the same feeling as Dibaba. "I'm going to do well." 

Dutch championship
Khalid Choukoud doesn't beat around the bush: "I'm going for all or nothing." The marathon runner knows from experience that he starts carefully and gains time in the second leg. He knows the Amsterdam course very well and will take a different approach this time. "I have nothing to lose," he says convincingly. For Richard Douma, it is his second marathon. "I did a lot of long endurance runs and that gives me a lot of confidence," Douma explains. He too has nothing to lose. "I'll just go along and race nicely. Then we'll see."

Among the women, medals at the Dutch championships will be shared between Jacelyn Gruppen and Eva van Zoonen. Gruppen: "I want to run a good race. If I get through the last kilometres well, I will compete for the medals." Van Zoonen was already on the podium last year with a third place and had a great experience. "I had a good preparation and am really looking forward to it," she said.


Among the women, medals at the Dutch championships will be shared between Jacelyn Gruppen and Eva van Zoonen. Gruppen: "I want to run a good race. If I get through the last kilometres well, I will compete for the medals." Van Zoonen was already on the podium of honour last year with third place and found that a great experience. "I had a good preparation and am really looking forward to it," he said.

TV broadcast with live data from start to finish
The start of the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, organized by sports organisation Le Champion, is Sunday at 9.00 hours in the Olympic Stadium. The race can be followed live on the website and on Europsport, Discovery+, SuperSport, ESPN Sur and Eurosport Asia, among others.

A unique technological innovation will be added to the broadcast: thanks to specially designed RunPuck software, the real-time performance of elite athletes can be followed continuously from start to finish. RunPuck generates specific running data for individual athletes and is a development never before seen within marathon sport.