Marathon: Kenyan Perez Jepchirchir breaks world record in women’s race

In these conditions, which were not necessarily optimal, Perez Jepchirchir created a piece of history by setting the fastest time in an all-women’s race. The athlete wiped off the shelves the old sign of Kenyan Mary Keitany, installed in 2017 (2h17m01s), already in the British capital.

In the last meters, she overtook the fatal acceleration of the Ethiopian Tigstu Assefa, who in September 2023 became the fastest marathon runner in the world in Berlin, where male hares took part in the race. In her first participation, Assefa finished second in the London race, seven seconds behind the winner (2 hours 16 minutes 23 seconds), ahead of Kenyan Joycilyn Jepkosgei (2 hours 16 minutes 24 seconds), crowned in 2021. Despite the daily record being set in an all-women’s race, Tigst Assefa remains the holder of the women’s marathon world record of 2 hours 11 minutes 53 seconds, but this time it was achieved in a mixed race.

This year the competition was particularly strong, with three of the four fastest marathon runners in the world taking to the start line. The only player missing was Sifan Hasan, who won the title last year in England. “I expected (Keitani’s) world record to be broken, but I didn’t expect it to be me,” Perez Jepchirchir smiled into the BBC microphone. “The girls were very strong, I worked even harder,” said the Olympic champion, who qualified to defend her title in Paris.

Among the men, Alexander Mutiso replaced Kiptum, the author of an unprecedented result a year ago in London (2 hours 01:25), who finished the 42.195 km distance in two hours, four minutes and one second. The 27-year-old pulled away in the final kilometers and crossed the line ahead of Ethiopian veteran Kenenisa Bekele, who is 41 years old on the clock.

No records in France for Shahdi

“Bekele put pressure on me at 40km, but I was really confident because I had prepared for this race. After 40 km I told myself that I had enough strength to win. So I accelerated and knew that I would win,” Mutiso commented to the TV presenter’s camera. Briton Emile Kaires climbed to the podium and at the same time received a ticket to the Olympic Games this summer.

Frenchman Hassan Shahdi will not be able to take part in the event despite a good fifth place finish on The Mall, the avenue leading to Buckingham Palace. To perform in Paris, he needed to break the French record of Morhad Amdouni, which he failed to do.