In a historic moment for athletics, Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum broke the men’s marathon world record in Chicago this past Sunday. Kiptum, who is only 23 years old, became the first person to complete a marathon in under 2:01:00, finishing the race in an astonishing 2:00:35. This was only the third competitive marathon of his career, and he managed to shave 34 seconds off the previous world record, held by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge. However, this new record is still pending the standard ratification procedure by World Athletics.
Kiptum’s performance was so outstanding that he finished the race almost three and a half minutes ahead of the runner-up, Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, with Belgium’s Bashi Abdi in third. “I knew I was going to get a course record, but a world record – I’m very happy,” expressed Kiptum after the race. “I wasn’t thinking of a world record today, but I knew that one day I would be the world record holder.”
Even as the magnitude of his impending achievement loomed, Kiptum seemed to run comfortably within his limits. As he raced to the finish line, he celebrated exuberantly before grabbing a Kenyan flag and embarking on a victory lap. Despite being off world record pace at the halfway point with a time of 1:00:48, Kiptum accelerated in the final 10km to secure his place in the annals of athletics history.
Kiptum’s record-breaking performance is not entirely surprising, given his previous achievements. He completed the fastest ever marathon debut last December and set a course record in London in April, finishing just 16 seconds off Kipchoge’s world record.
In other Chicago Marathon record news, Sifan Hassan broke the women’s course record with a time of 2:13:38, marking the second-fastest race in her US marathon debut. Wheelchair racing also saw new records, with Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner setting course records in the men’s and women’s races respectively.
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