World record is obliterated

Berlin – Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge (above) set a new marathon world record in Berlin yesterday, smashing the previous best as he clocked 2hr 1min 39sec.

The 33-year-old Olympic champion, aided by a string of pacemakers through to 25km of the 42.195km race, took 1min 18sec off the previous best set four years ago by Dennis Kimetto.

It was the largest single improvement on the marathon world record since Derek Clayton improved the mark by 2:23 in 1967.

“My only words are ‘Thank you!’,” said Kipchoge, who sprinted into the lead after 100 metres and never let up.

“I trained so well for this race and have full trust in the programmes of my coach. I am just so incredibly happy to have finally run the world record as I never stopped having belief in myself.”

Acclaimed as the greatest marathon runner of the modern era, Kipchoge has dominated marathon racing since making his debut in Hamburg in 2013 after a successful track career that saw him win world gold and silver (2003, 2007) in the 5000m and Olympic silver and bronze (2008, 2004) over the same distance.

There was a Kenyan double as Gladys Cherono ran 2:18:11, a course record and world leading time, to win the women’s race. - –