Kelvin Kiptum has broken the fastest marathon world record after registering a time of 2 hr 35 sec at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.
The 23-year-old Kenyan runner shaved 34 seconds off the previous record of 2 hr 1 min 9 sec, which was set by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge at the 2022 Berlin Marathon.
Kiptum completed the first half of the race slightly behind Kipchoge’s world record pace, but he made up for it by rapidly running the second half marathon in under an hour.
He ran the 22nd mile in just 4 min 18 sec, and even found time to blow kisses to the crowd as he finished the final few hundred metres.
"A world record was not in my mind today, but I knew one time, one day I’d be a world record holder,” Kiptum said in a post-race interview.
“I feel so happy. I was prepared. I knew I was coming for a course record, but fortunately [it was] a world record.”
The women’s race was won by Sifan Hassan (Netherlands), whose time of 2 hr 13 min 44 sec was the second-fastest in women’s history, behind only Tigst Assefa’s record-breaking run last month in Berlin.
Kiptum has taken the marathon-running world by storm since competing in his first one less than a year ago, having previously only done half marathons.
He made his debut at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, becoming the third person in history to run a time under 2 hr 2 min. Five months later, he won his second event, the 2023 London Marathon, in what was then the second-fastest time ever (2 hr 1 min 25 sec).
And now, in just his third marathon, Kiptum has achieved the world record and become the first person to clock a time under 2 hr 1 min.
Kipchoge had held the record for five years, initially breaking it at the 2018 Berlin Marathon with a time of 2 hr 1 min 39 sec. He still holds the record for the fastest marathon distance (1 hr 59 min 40 sec), but this was run under specialized conditions without any competitors, so it cannot be recognized by World Athletics as the official marathon record.
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