At the end of a week which saw the farewell of one of the greatest sportsmen of the last two decades in the person of Roger Federer, another legend signed a feat, soon to be 38 years old. Eliud Kipchoge delivered a masterful race this Sunday by beating his marathon world record in Berlin, in 2h1’9”. 30 seconds less than its 2018 mark (2h1’39”).
The conditions were, as often, excellent in Berlin, with ten degrees on the thermometer at the start, at 9:15 a.m., of the same rolling course on which he had achieved his previous record, in 2018.
Kipchoge started on an incredibly high footing, with a first 10 km in 28’23”, well ahead of his record (29’1″), then a passage to the supersonic half-marathon: 59’51”, the fastest in history, better than his 61′ during the 2018 London Marathon.
In Vienna, during an unapproved marathon, he ran in 1h59”40. This time, in regular conditions, with three hares, he flirted with the less than two hours. After the 25th km, his hares put on the indicator and Kipchoge found himself alone, his average then took a hit and the projection put him above two hours.
Without showing any signs of weakness, the Kenyan held on, once again delighting the Berlin crowd lining the home straight after the Brandenburg Gate.