Kenyan husband and wife win marathon in the city of love
In his biggest career win, Lonyangata won the Paris marathon in a time of two hours six minutes and 10 seconds.
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Compatriot pre-race favourite Stephen Chebogut, came in second at 2hr 6min 56sec, with Solomon Yego completing the all-Kenyan podium in third at 2hr 7min 13sec.
"I feel good now as my aim was to come here to win," said Lonyangata who was going one better after taking second in the Paris half-marathon in March.
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"Love marathon"
His wife, Rionoripo made completed the couple's “love marathon” after setting a new record time of 2hr 20min 55sec.
Rionoripo was followed by another Kenyan Agnes Barsosio at 2hr 21:02 with Flomena Cheyech (2hr 21:23.) completing the podium.
"It's great for my wife, I'm very proud of her," a happy and proud husband Lonyangata said.
"I'm so happy, it's a great day for me to win and to beat my personal best," said Rionoripo.
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She lowered the previous women's Paris marathon record time set by Ethiopia's Feyse Tadese of 2hr 21:06 in 2013.
Her husband's winning time was 53sec outside the record established by Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele of 2hrs 05:04 in 2014.
The wins comes barely a month after Kenya’s Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong failed an out of competition drugs test.
The 32-year-old tested positive for the banned substance EPO in a test by athletics governing body the IAAF.
"We can confirm that an anti-doping rule violation case concerning Jemima Sumgong (Kenya) has commenced this week," the IAAF said in a statement.
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