Press Release - World Athletics - 2/6/24

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                  Ratified: Kiptum's world marathon record

Kelvin Kiptum's world marathon record of 2:00:35 set in Chicago last year 
has been ratified.

Kenya's Kiptum became the first athlete to break 2:01 in a record-eligible 
marathon, taking 34 seconds off the world record at the Bank of America 
Chicago Marathon on 8 October.

With that performance, Kiptum improved his PB by 50 seconds to surpass the 
world record of 2:01:09 set by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin on 
25 September 2022.

Kiptum pushed the pace throughout the race in Chicago. He broke away from a 
seven-strong lead group after reaching 5km in 14:26, joined by his 
compatriot Daniel Mateiko. They were on world record pace at 10km, passed 
in 28:42, but the tempo dropped a little and they reached half way in 
1:00:48.

After 30km was passed in 1:26:31, Kiptum kicked and dropped Mateiko. A 
blistering 5km split of 13:51 took him to the 35km checkpoint in 1:40:22 
and he was on sub-2:01 pace, 49 seconds ahead of Mateiko.

Continuing to run with urgency, Kiptum passed 40km in 1:54:23 – after a 
27:52 10km split. He went on to win the race by almost three and a half 
minutes, crossing the finish line in 2:00:35.

"I knew I was coming for a course record, but a world record – I am so 
happy," he said. "A world record was not on my mind today, but I knew one 
day I would be a world record-holder."

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