On Sunday, Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge shattered his own world record at the Berlin Marathon by running 2:01:09, 30 seconds faster than his previous record set in 2018.
In a sanctioned world marathon, Kipchoge, who won gold medals at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, is getting close to breaking the 2-hour barrier. During the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in 2019, he became the first person to ever run a marathon in under two hours, but the IAAF did not recognize it as a world record.
After covering the first ten kilometres in 28:23, the 37-year-old runner clocked 42:32 at 15K, hinting at a sub-two-hour finish. Guye Adola and Ethiopian Andamlak Belihu kept pace, but Kipchoge eventually took the lead.
As of now, Kipchoge has won 15 out of 17 official marathons he’s entered, including a silver medal in the 2008 Olympics at 5,000 meters. Kipchoge was left alone at the 25K mark after the last pacemaker dropped off.
It is now the eighth time in a row that the men’s record has been set in Berlin, which is favoured by runners for its flat course. Women’s race winner Tigist Assefa set a course record of 2:15:37 – 18 minutes faster than her previous best.
