Kipchoge shatters marathon world record in Berlin
Legend feels ‘young’ after historic run
Berlin - Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge shattered his own marathon world record yesterday, winning the Berlin race with a time of 2:01.09 to shave half a minute off his previous world best set in the German capital four years ago.
The 37-year-old, who has now won 15 of his 17 career marathons, including two Olympic triumphs and 10 major titles, was in a class of his own, setting a blistering pace along the flat inner-city course on an overcast day to cement his status as the greatest ever marathon runner.
“I am happy with my preparation and I think I was so fast because of the teamwork,” Kipchoge said.
“Everything is down to teamwork. I planned to go out fast in the first half. I thought try to run fast. It was a marvellous performance.
“My legs and my body still feel young. But the most important thing is my mind, and that also feels fresh and young. I am so happy to break the world record.”
Only a handful of runners could keep up with his sub-three minute kilometre split times in the early stages, along with the group of pacemakers.
He gradually shook off last year’s winner Guye Adola but fellow Ethiopian Andamlak Belihu refused to buckle, even as they raced through the halfway mark in under an hour.
The Kenyan, who retained his Olympic at the Tokyo Games last year, had fallen short of his world mark by just over a minute at the Tokyo Marathon in March, but he was not to be denied in Berlin.
Having slowed slightly in the second half of the race he still powered through the final 500-metre sprint.
Kipchoge is the only man to run a subtwo hour marathon when he clocked 1:59.40 on a specially designed track in Vienna in 2019 but the time is not officially recognised as it was not set in competition.
Ethiopian Tigist Assefa stunned the field in the women’s race, winning in 2:15:37, the third-fastest time in history.