Two-time Olympian Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia won the 53rd Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race women’s elite division with a time of 30:49. The 27-year-old narrowly edged Kenyan Olympian Irene Cheptai to claim her first title in Atlanta.
“I’m very happy I did well here,” Teferi said. “I want to thank God, and even though I didn’t break the record, I’ll break it next time.”
Immediately after finishing, Teferi was sent to the medical tent, suffering a post-run sickness, but she came out shortly feeling better.
“It was really hot outside, so that made it really hard to run, and I’m not really good at handling the heat,” Teferi said. “So, I really tried my best.”
The fastest American woman in the footrace was Annie Frisbie in 32:22. She was 10th overall. The fastest Georgian finisher was Emma Grace Hurley of Brookhaven in a time of 33:26.
The race began to heat up close to the finish line, with Teferi and Cheptai fighting until the end. Teferi eventually pulled away to win by less than one second ahead of Cheptai.
Teferi has established herself as one of the world’s elite road runners through the years. In 2021, Teferi set the women’s 5K world record at the Adizero Road to Records with a time of 14:29. She also has found success on the world’s biggest stage. Teferi placed 10th in 5,000 meters during last summer’s Tokyo Olympics and came in fifth in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
So far in 2022, Teferi has continued to show her dominance in distance running.
This year’s AJC Peachtree Road Race is Teferi’s second first-place finish in the past three weeks, as she competed in the 50th New York Mini 10K on June 11. She had a historic few months in New York as she finished the Mini 10K with the race’s second-fastest time of 30:43 and became the first athlete ever to win both the Mini 10K and the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon in the same year.
“I came in thinking that I would win and also break the record, and with God’s help, I won, and next time I’ll break the record,” Teferi said.
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