Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich breaks the world record in Chicago – Libération

2024-10-13 15:36:00

Winning in 2:09:57, the athlete shaved almost two minutes off the old record held by Ethiopian Tigist Assefa.

An impressive margin. Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich broke the women’s marathon world record by nearly two minutes this Sunday, October 13, winning in Chicago in 2:09:57. The old record belonged to Ethiopian Tigist Assefa, who completed the 42.195 km in 2 h 11 min 53 s on September 24, 2023 in Berlin.

“I dedicate this record to Kelvin (Kiptum), he also broke a world record here and could have broken one again”Chepngetich said after the finish line. World record holder Kelvin Kiptum, who died in February at age 23 in a car accident, also left his mark a year ago on the shores of Lake Michigan. It was his compatriot John Korir who won the men’s race this year, without teammates, in 2h 2 min 43 sec.

“I’m very proud of myself. I had this world record in mind, it was my dream, and today everything was perfect: the weather, my preparation.”Ruth Chepngetich said again. The 30-year-old athlete accomplished an extraordinary feat, running the entire race at a pace never before achieved by women. At the 10th km she was on the basis of 2:07:30, before slowing down slightly, but to become the first woman in history to go under the symbolic threshold of 2:10 as the 2019 marathon world champion she has already won the marathon twice Chicago Marathon, in 2021 and 2022. His personal best for the distance was 2:14:18.