Ruth Chepngetich wins the women’s marathon at the World Athletics Championships with a time of 2:32:43 to open Kenya’s gold account in Doha.

Ruth Chepngetich wins the women’s marathon at the World Athletics Championships with a time of 2:32:43 to open Kenya’s gold account in Doha

Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich won the women’s marathon at the World Championships as 28 of the 68 starters withdrew in gruelling conditions in Doha.

In a race that started at midnight local time, Briton Charlotte Purdue was among the athletes to pull out in temperatures of 32C and with humidity reaching over 70%.

Organisers decided to go ahead with the event in its scheduled slot despite fears that the conditions might not be conducive for marathon running.

Ethiopia’s marathon coach Haji Adillo Roba witnessed his trio of athletes stop, including Tokyo Marathon winner Ruti Aga.

“We never would have run a marathon in these conditions in our own country,” he told BBC Sport during the race.

“I’ll be interested to see how many finish.”

Chepngetich, 23, took the first gold of the championships in two hours 32.43 seconds with athletes attempting to complete six 7km loops of the Corniche in the Qatar capital.

Bahrain’s defending champion Ruth Chelimo, 39, was second in 2:33.46 and Commonwealth champion Helalia Johannes of Namibia, also 39, took bronze in 2:34.15.