Chepngetich smashes women’s world record at Chicago Marathon
Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich wins the Chicago Marathon in 2:09:56, dedicating the record to Kelvin Kiptum, who died in a car crash.
Chepngetich took almost two minutes off the world record at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, winning Sunday’s World Athletics Platinum Label road race in 2:09:56.
Not only did she obliterate Tigist Assefa’s world record of 2:11:53, set in Berlin last year, Chepngetich also notched up her third Chicago Marathon victory and chopped more than four minutes off her previous best of 2:14:18, set when winning here in 2022.
On a good day for Kenyan runners, John Korir took the men’s title in 2:02:43, the second-fastest time ever recorded in Chicago behind the world record of 2:00:35 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum last year.
Chepngetich breezed through the first 5km in 15:00 and then reached 10km in an astonishing 30:14. She continued her relentless pace and hit the half-way mark in an incredible 1:04:16, the fifth-fastest clocking in history for the half marathon distance and putting her on course for a sub-2:09 finish.
“This is my dream that has come true,” Chepngetich said.
Chepngetich, who also won in Chicago in 2021 and 2022, dedicated her latest victory to Kelvin Kiptum, who set the men’s world record at last year’s race just four months before he died in a car accident at the age of 24.
“The world record has come back to Kenya, and I dedicate this world record to Kelvin Kiptum,” Chepngetich said.
“I’ve fought a lot, thinking about the world record and I have fulfilled it.”