McCormack’s personal best clinches Tokyo ticket

FIONNUALA McCORMACK finished a superb fifth at the Chicago Marathon yesterday, with the 35-year-old clocking 2:26:47 to carve almost four minutes off her personal best.

That secured McCormack automatic qualification for next year’s Olympics in Tokyo and moved her to number two on the Irish all-time list. Her previous best was the 2:30:38 she ran to finish 11th at the Boston Marathon earlier this year.

The race was won by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei in a world record of 2:14:04, obliterating the previous record of 2:15:25, which was set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003. Kosgei passed halfway in a blistering 1:06:59, which many deemed a suicidal pace, but the 25-year-old maintained her form well in the closing miles to shatter Radcliffe’s previous mark.

McCormack (right), meanwhile, passed halfway in 1:12:56 and came home strongly to record her highest ever finish in a marathon major. It puts her behind only Catherina McKiernan, who clocked 2:22:23 in 1998, on the Irish all-time list.

Elsewhere, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge said he needs time to recover physically and mentally after becoming the first person to run a marathon in under two hours and has yet to decide if he will defend his title at next year’s Tokyo Olympics. World-record holder Kipchoge smashed the two-hour barrier on a special course in Vienna on Saturday, finishing in one hour 59 minutes and 40 seconds in an unofficial attempt.

Before switching focus to his next challenge, which could include another Olympic appearance, the 34-year-old plans to recharge his batteries.

“I’ll take three weeks of active rest and then I’ll know what next. I’m taking normal meals with a lot of carbohydrates,” he said.

“I’m concentrating purely on recovery and I have not given any thought for any other challenge. It’s too early to tell (about the Olympics). I’ve never said that I’ll no longer run (a marathon) but I’m going to first recover and then decide which race to run.”

The sub-two hour marathon is widely regarded as the biggest achievement in athletics since Briton Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile in 1954 – and was compared by Kipchoge himself to landing on the moon.