Kenyan Kipchoge breaks the marathon world record in Berlin

BERLIN (Reuters) – Kenya's Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge broke a sensational world record on Sunday, surpassing the previous record by more than a minute thanks to a frantic race in the German capital. him.

The 33-year-old, widely regarded as the greatest marathoner of the modern era, ran an official two-hour, one-minute and 39-second downhill run along the downtown flat course. The world of Dennis Kimetto is the best by one minute and 18 seconds.

Kimetto's record has been set since Kenyan put him on the same course in 2014.

"I'm missing words to describe this day," said Kipchoge, former 5000-meter world champion and gold medalist at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. "I'm very grateful, happy to break the record. of the world.

"They say you can miss it twice but not the third time. So I want to thank everyone who has helped me, "said Kipchoge, who participated last year in the Nike Breaking Two project, where he ran two hours and 25 seconds to help "Illegal" pacemakers.

He started with a frantic pace and quickly shook his biggest opponent, Wilson Kipsang, to make it a one-man race.

With perfect weather conditions and virtually no wind, it was clear after the few kilometers of opening that Kipchoge's only opponent would be the stopwatch and his three pacemakers were pushed to the limit to keep the tempo high while Kipchoge mid Road.

But even after taking off the last pacemaker after 25 kilometers, Kipchoge showed no signs of slowing down, exceeding 30 km in 1:26:45, with a pace of 2:52 by 1,000 meters, with thousands of Berliners lined the streets and pulling him on.

Berlin has now seen the last six men's world records over the distance established on its fast course.

"It was tough, I ran my own race, I trusted my coaches, my program and my coach, which pushed me into the last few kilometers. Said Kipchoge.

Kipchoge continued his momentum to sprint through the Brandenburg Gate and complete a world record that consolidates his reputation as one of the greatest runners of all time.

Since his debut in 2013 in Hamburg, Kipchoge has won the World Marathon Majors series in Chicago (2014), Berlin (2015 and 2017) and London (2015, 2016 and 2018).

Kenya finished with Amos Kipruto in second place more than five minutes later and Kipsang, a former world record holder in 2013, was third.

The Kenyan Gladys Cherono won the women's event with a course record and the best time of the year in 2:18:10, leaving the Ethiopians Ruti Aga and the Tirunesh pre-race favorite Dibaba respectively in the second and third places.