Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum demolished the world marathon record Sunday in Chicago, becoming the first person to ever run under 2:01 in a record-eligible marathon. Here’s what you need to know:
- Kiptum finished in 2:00:35. Eliud Kipchoge — who held the previous world record of 2:01:09 set in Berlin last year — ran 1:59:40 in a controlled race environment in 2019.
- The 23-year-old Kiptum put his mark on the record-breaking performance with a 4:18 22nd-mile split, one of the fastest mile splits during a marathon in the event’s history, per LetsRun.
- In the women’s race, Sifan Hassan was on pace to run the second-fastest marathon in women’s history at the time of Kiptum’s finish. Hassan, who had run under world record pace for much of the race, outran Ruth Chepngetich, who led the women’s race under record pace before Hassan rejoined and eventually gapped her before the 30k mark.
WORLD RECORD 🤯
🇰🇪’s Kelvin Kiptum destroys the marathon world record* at the @ChiMarathon with 2:00:35 😵
He becomes the first man in history to break 2:01.
*Subject to the usual ratification procedures pic.twitter.com/gRYYzE89d0
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) October 8, 2023
Who is Kiptum?
Kiptum burst onto the marathon scene with a 2:01:53 course record at the 2022 Valencia…
