Kipchoge leaves marathon world record in tatters
Kenya’s Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge pulverised the marathon world record with a blistering run on Sunday, slicing a staggering 78sec off the previous best to land the one major crown that had eluded him.
The 33-year-old, widely seen as the greatest marathon runner of the modern era, ran an official 2hr 1min 39sec on a sunny day along the flat inner-city course, smashing Dennis Kimetto’s previous record, which had stood since 2014.
Fellow Kenyan Gladys Cherono won the women’s race with a course record and best time of the year of 2:18:11, leaving Ethiopians Ruti Aga and prerace favourite Tirunesh Dibaba in second and third place.
Kipchoge’s run was the biggest improvement on the marathon mark since Australian Derek Clayton took almost 2min 30sec off the record in 1967.
“I lack words to describe this day,” said a beaming Kipchoge, a former world champion over 5,000m and marathon gold medallist at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
“I am really grateful, happy to smash the world record.
“They say you can miss it twice but not a third time. So I want to thank everyone who has helped me,” said Kipchoge, who also won in Berlin in 2015 and 2017.
“I am just so incredibly happy to have finally run the world record as I never stopped having belief in myself. Running a sub two hours two minutes was simply amazing and I believe I can still go below that with such good conditions.”
Kipchoge, who in 2017 took part in the Nike Breaking Two project, where he ran 2:00:25 with the aid of “illegal” in and out pacemakers, started off at a sizzling pace.
On Sunday his three pacemakers were pushed to the limit to keep the tempo high as Kipchoge dipped well below world record time at the halfway mark. Yet even after the last pacemaker peeled off after 25km, Kipchoge showed no sign of slowing as thousands of Berliners egged him on.
Berlin has been the stage for the past six men’s world records over the distance.
“It was hard running alone, but I was confident. I ran my own race, I trusted my trainers, my programme and my coach. That’s what pushed me in the last kilometres,” Kipchoge said.
Kipchoge kept up the pace to complete a race that cements his reputation as one of the greatest runners of all time.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta congratulated him minutes after his win as well as second-placed Amos Kipruto and Wilson Kipsang, who completed the African nation’s podium sweep.