Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya put in an impressive performance to break the women’s marathon world record in Chicago on Sunday (13), taking a lead of almost two minutes over the previous best time and winning with an unofficial time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds.
Chepngetich left her opponents behind at the halfway point and ran to applause in the final stretch, winning her third title in Chicago and breaking Ethiopian Tigst Assefa’s previous record of 2:11:53, set last year in Berlin.
Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich takes almost two minutes off the world record at the Bank of America @ChiMarathon with 2:09:56 👏
Report 🔗 https://t.co/bcLxpruIsy
📸Kevin Morris pic.twitter.com/NzasPnm1Lr
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) October 13, 2024
Ethiopian Sutume Kebede crossed the finish line in second place, seven minutes and 36 seconds later, while Kenyan Irine Cheptai (2h17min51) was third.
“It’s my dream come true,” said Chepngetich, whose time was originally recorded as 2:09:57 but was later adjusted.
His compatriot John Korir won the men’s race in 2:02:44.
Chepngetich set a blistering pace from the start, running the first five kilometers in 15 minutes and, halfway through, she had already created a 14-second lead between herself and Kebede.
Chepngetich, the 2019 world champion, bent over in total exhaustion after breaking the tape and dedicated her performance to compatriot Kelvin Kiptum, who broke the men’s world record a year ago in Chicago and died in a car accident four months later.
“The world record was on my mind,” she said in televised comments. “Chicago, as I told the press, is like home.”
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