More than two months after his bronze medal at the Olympics, Bashir Abdi shined again. Our compatriot won the prestigious Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday and also did what he came for in the first place: breaking a European record. New high time: 2h03’35”, 41 seconds faster than the previous record.
The run was very fast from the start in Rotterdam, but that high pace turned out to be no problem for 32-year-old Bashir Abdi.
The Belgian initially quickly joined a large leading group and after 15 kilometers was already half a minute ahead of the European record table, which Kenyan Turk Kahn Kegen Osbelin (2u04’16”) has held since 2019.
It was exactly that chrono that Abdi wanted to improve in Rotterdam, but gradually saw his reward on Özbilen dwindle. When my servant ended up in the third group about 28 kilometers away, it looked just as horrifying.
But the bronze medalist organized his race perfectly and returned to the center of the race in the sock of the feet.
Little by little, he took the lead more in the planned schedule and after 36 kilometers he had enough and threw his remaining rivals into the sea with increasing speed.
Abdi did not let up in the final kilometers and entered Coolsingel in a superb 2h03’35”, no less than 41 seconds faster than Özbilen’s previous European record.
Abdi is the second Belgian to win the Rotterdam Marathon. He follows in the footsteps of 1994 winner Vincent Russo with a time of 2:07:51.”
Abdi: “Goosebumps from the audience”
As fast as he walked, a very happy waterfall of Bashir Abdi quickly spoke about the NOS cameras. “I am very happy that it worked,” the Belgian smiled.
“Rotterdam feels like a home game. The spectators drove me crazy. I was deaf in certain parts. I really got goosebumps. I wanted to give something back to the fans by winning here.”
Abdi was forced for a moment to give up his lead role. “I had just had a drink when the speed picked up. But there was still time to overtake. I didn’t panic and started running faster in time.”
“I’m glad I was able to walk the last segment alone, even though the last kilometers seemed to last 5 kilometres,” laughs Abdi.
He ran his last marathon barely two and a half months ago and this is rarely seen. “I trained well and was able to rest a lot. The condition was there, I didn’t have to start from scratch. The conditions here in Rotterdam were perfect too.”
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