Kenyan and Ethiopian win in return of St. Silvestre race

São Silvestre returned in 2021 with the same results as 2018. Ethiopian Belay Bezabh won the men’s race and Kenyan Sandrafelis Chebet, the women’s. They were the same winners as three years ago. Both were among the favorites in their categories in the street competition held in São Paulo.

It was the return of the event to the sports calendar of the city of São Paulo after the break in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the first time that the competition was not disputed since the first edition, in 1925. At the time, it was reserved only for men. The first participation of women took place in 1975.

Brazilian Daniel Nascimento ran 14 of the 15 kilometers of the race alongside Bezabh and it looked like he could surprise. A home athlete hasn’t won since Marílson dos Santos, in 2010. But, in the final meters, before entering Avenida Paulista, the same starting point, the Ethiopian shot to cross the finish line first.

Bezabh’s 44min54 time did not beat the 42min59 achieved by Kibiwot Kandie, from Kenya, champion in 2019.

The women’s start had 20 athletes from the elite squad and the race was dominated from the start by the Kenyan Sandrafelis Chebet, considered the main name of the race, and the Ethiopian Yenneesh Dinkesa. Chebet had won the São Silvestre in 2018. Dinkesa, this year, finished the Paris Marathon in 2nd position.

From the 8th kilometer, the runner from Kenya increased the pace and began to lead with clearances until victory.

She timed 50min06, higher than the record set by her compatriot Jemima Summong, who clocked 48min35 in 2016.

The best Brazilian was Jenifer do Nascimento, placed third. Graziele Sarri, Daniel Nascimento’s wife, was seventh.

Since Lucélia Peres’ victory in 2006, the women’s competition has been dominated by the Kenyans. In the 14 races since then, the country’s athletes have won 11 times. The only one who managed to break this hegemony was Yimer Wude Ayalew, from Ethiopia, winner in 2008, 2014 and 2015.

São Silvestre has been dominated by Africans. In this century, only five times in the men’s race and four times in the women’s race has a winner been from that continent. In 2017, Dawit Admasu won for Bahrain, the nation for which he was naturalized. In 2014, he took the highest place on the podium for his native Ethiopia.

No country has as many victories in San Silvestre as Kenya. For men, there are 15 first places, the same number as for women. The runner who most often is Kenyan Paul Tergat (five times). But in women, the record still belongs to the Portuguese Rosa Mota (six), champion between 1981 and 1986.

The number of entries in 2021 was around 20,000, according to the organization of the event. It is a lower mark compared to previous editions, when 35 thousand participated.

All applicants were required to present a vaccination certificate or a negative PCR test if they had received only one dose of the vaccine. The use of a mask was mandatory at the beginning and at the end of the route, on the stretches of Avenida Paulista. For the rest of the 15 km journey, use was optional, but recommended. The elite athletes used it only at the start and ignored it for the rest of the journey, including the finish.

Each of the winners will receive a prize of R$50 thousand, less than the R$94 thousand paid in 2019.

See below for the podium in the men’s and women’s competitions

male

1st Belay Bezabh – Kenya (44min54)
2nd Daniel Nascimento – Brazil (45min09)
3º Hector Flores – Bolivia (45min15)
4º Elisha Rotich – Quênia (46min26)
5th José Marcio Leão – Brazil (46min35)

female

1st Sandrafelis Chebet – Kenya (50min06)
2º Yenenesh Dinkesa – Ethiopia (51min26)
3rd Jenifer do Nascimento – Brazil (53min32)
4th Valdilene Santos – Brazil (53min33)
Franciane Moura – Brazil (54min10)