In the third marathon of his life, and at the age of only 23, Kelvin Kiptum entered the historical Olympus of the marathon in a big way. He did this by eliminating Eliud Kipchoge, considered the best marathoner in history, from the first place in the world distance ranking, with a stratospheric world record of 2.00:35 that he achieved on the streets of Chicago.
Kiptum warned of his great potential in Valencia, last year, where he became the third fastest man in history at 42.105 kilometers in the best debut ever, with 2.01:53. This year, in April, he impressed in London with the second best time in history, with 2.01:25, Just 16 seconds away from Kipchoge’s world record.
And this Sunday, in Chicago, on a windless and rare day for running, Kiptum went down in history, signing on the asphalt what was planned in his youth and potential, to be the great successor of Eliud.
Already at kilometer 5 the first problems came to the hares, who could not maintain the rhythm demanded by an impatient Kiptum. After covering the first set at 14:26, The Kenyan and his compatriot Mateiko were left alone leading one of the hares, Ronald Kirui, whom they asked to stand in front to protect them.
This trio of athletes crossed kilometer 10 in 28:42, with a projection a few seconds below Kipchoge’s world record (2.01:09), despite the fact that the a priori challenge was only to improve the mark in test history (2.03: Four). . Five).
A wild rhythm
The crazy move Kiptum made was that the hare practically became another member of the group. no options to fulfill their work with solvency. Although in the 15th (43:09) the options to remove Kipchoge from the first place in the universal ranking seem to have disappeared, Kiptum and Mateiko are now alone in the lead to pass the half marathon in 1.00 :48.
At kilometer 33, Kiptum starred in a brutal change of pace, abandoning his countryman, to continue his pursuit of victory … and the world record. As I pointed out in London, the Kenyan faced the second part of the route faster than the first, so the seconds lost in the middle of the race he was able to recover later. He covered the distance between kilometers 30 and 35 in 13:51 and was faster in the second half (59:47 compared to 1.00:48 in the first 21 kilometers).
With this panorama he reached kilometer 40 in 1.54:23, alone, but almost without any wear, despite running the last 12 kilometers alone. Crossing the finish line, which ends on a small slope, in a sprint, cheered by the public, to set a world record for history in 2.00:35. “I came for the circuit record, but luckily I beat the world record, which I didn’t have in the first place,” said Kiptum. “I’m happy”. Kenyan Kipruto (2.04:02) and Belgian Adbi (2.04:32) completed the podium.
Hassan, victory and second best record ever
Sifan Hassan won the Chicago marathon, with the second best time ever (2.13:44), behind Assefa’s world record.
And after winning last year in this circuit, Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich took to the streets of Chicago with the intention of repeating her victory. Surrounded by hares, he soon led, with the only passage to the Dutch Sifan Hassan, who returned to the marathon a month and a half after winning world silver and bronze in the 5,000 and 1,500 respectively. In the spring, He made his long distance debut with a win in Londondespite the mistakes I made and the victory was about to be jeopardized.
do completed the first 10 kilometers in 31:05, almost 50 seconds ahead of the other favorites and in the pace of Assefa’s recent world record. The fight between Chepngetich and Hassan lasted for kilometers. The Dutchwoman seemed weakened, but she pulled herself together to continue a duel that was more psychological than physical.
And they remained like that until the half marathon, where the Kenyan (1.05:42) took advantage of his vast experience of 42.195 kilometers to establish a distance from Hassan, who took his foot from accelerator. But the world track medalist had not yet said his last word and returned to the fight to overtake Ruth and take the lead. both still have a projection of scores below the world record.
From then on, Hassan presided over the trial. He gained an advantage in his immediate pursuit and reached the finish line with a remarkable record, in the second marathon of his career: 2:13.44, where he also surpassed the European record, which was 20 years old and was held by Radcliffe, with 2.15:25 .
