One won the first marathon of her career, the second set the second fastest time in history, the two made an impression: Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan and Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum won a very high London marathon on Sunday. Invoice.
Before London, Hassan, Olympic champion in the 5,000m and 10,000m in Tokyo in 2021 (a historic booty embellished with a bronze medal in the 1,500m), had never run over the distance and, before starting the season athletics on the track, in the open air, came to test themselves with a view to the Games in Paris, next year. “It was just amazing,” Hassan said, as the BBC microphone race arrived. I never thought I would finish the marathon and not only did I finish it, I won it! “.
Kiptum had already impressed by becoming the third best performer in history (2 hours 1 minutes and 53 seconds) in his first marathon, in Valencia in December. Only the legendary Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele had better times.
Kipchoge’s record within reach
This time, in drizzle and gray weather, he was even faster than in Valencia (2 hours 1 minute and 25 seconds), falling just 16 seconds short of the world record for who is considered the best marathon runner in history, his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge, established in September 2022 in Berlin.
But this brand now seems very threatened by this new Kenyan phenomenon, only 23 years old, who seems determined not to forbid himself anything. Not even the mythical two-hour mark: Kiptum signed a second half of the race with a cannon shot (59’47”).
Very comfortable at the start of the race, he accelerated violently after 1h30 of racing. She immediately gave him several steps ahead of the rest of the lead group which withered away and from which Bekele had been quickly ejected. The Kenyan finished far ahead of his compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor and the Ethiopian Tamirat Tola, world champion in the discipline.