Zersenay Tadesse won the BUPA Great Manchester Run on Sunday completing the 10km course in 27 minutes 36 seconds. Speaking to Meadna News, Zersenay Tadesse said: “The race was very tough. Fabiano Joseph and Boniface Kiprop are very strong runners with great record of achievement.”

Yonas Kifle came 4th despite foot injury that he incurred lately. Simret Sultan finished 8th in the Women’s race. Hundreds of Eritreans from Manchester and other cities including London showed a tremendous support to the Eritrean athletes. After the race Zersenay, Yonas and Simret attended a reception and celebration party, which was organized by the Eritrean Community in Greater Manchester.

The Eritrean Ambassador to the UK and Ireland, Negasi Sengal was also present in the celebration. The Eritrean athletes’ success comes as Eritreans around the world are celebrating the 15th Eritrean Independence Day. In a speech he made at the opening of the reception, Mr Negasi said: “this great victory is a gift for our 15th independence day:” Referring to the successes Eritreans are scoring in sport and other fields, he said: “none of these would have been possible with out our independence.”

The Eritrean athletes on their part thanked all Eritrean people for the extraordinary support they get wherever they go. Yonas Kifle also talked about the greater importance and influence of the support on the younger Eritreans. He said: “This event will be broadcasted on Eri-TV and radio and our younger brothers and sisters who will be succeeding us, will be watching this support that you are giving us.”

Scoring considerable achievements in major world sport competitions, Eritrea has come a very long way in a short space of time. In an interview with Meadna Yonas Kifle said that Eritrea has a lot of potential, pointing to the existing and new emerging Eritrean athletes’ achievements in Japan and other countries.