As the Kenyan becomes the first woman to break 2:10, the running world wonders if the performance was down to her undoubted talent, high-tech super shoes, cutting-edge energy drinks or something else.
It’s almost five years since Ruth Cepngetic survived the Cornish Massacre and became world marathon champion on an embarrassing night in Doha.
In a desperate attempt to avoid the worst of the afternoon heat, the race started at midnight on a popular promenade in the Qatari capital. Despite the odd schedule, the temperature was still 32.7C with 73.3% humidity on the runners’ route.
Reporting on the action with my colleague Ewan Crumley, we were sweating as we just stood on the side of the road watching the action. Unsurprisingly, the athletes struggled in the oppressive conditions, with 28 of the 63 starters dropping out.
It was a grueling scene and after 2 hours 32 minutes 42 seconds, however, Chepnegetic crossed the finish line to take gold.
He answered the question about the conditions. “It wasn’t bad for me.”
Ruth Chepngetich (Mark Shearman)
On Sunday (October 13), the diminutive Kenyan once again defied the laws of nature when he set a world record of 2:09:56 in Chicago.
Tigist Assefa’s world record of 2:11:53 a year ago in Berlin was pretty obscure. But Chepngetic cut almost two minutes off the Ethiopian’s time.
Behind him, runner-up Sutume Asefa Kebede finished more than seven and a half minutes behind. Paula Radcliffe, who set a world record of 2:15:25 in 2003, had to finish five and a half minutes (or more than a mile) back.
Not only was Czepngetic faster than Eamonn Martin when he won the London Marathon in 2:10:50 in 1993, but he is now faster than Britons such as Chris Thompson, Mark Scott and Ben Connor, among others. In fact, only 22 British men have beaten Chepngetic’s time.
Historically, he is more than three minutes faster than two-time Olympic men’s marathon champion Abebe Bikila and more than 13 minutes faster than Emil Zatopek. Great women’s marathon pioneer Grete Weitz, meanwhile, clocked a best of 2:24:54.
As far as Olympic finals are concerned, Chepngetic’s time in Chicago is faster than all men’s races since the advent of the modern Olympics until 2004 with only one exception. Waldemar Cierpinski won the 1976 Olympic title in a faster time, but only by a second, 2:09:55.
Ruth Cepngetich (Getty)
As we reported on SundayChepngetic covered the 5km in 15:00 and the 10km in 30:14, times faster than his PBs for those distances. He then hit the halfway mark in 64:16, just a few seconds off his PB of 64:02 and the fifth-fastest 13.1-mile time ever.
Such early paces are not entirely unprecedented. In Chicago 2022, he ran the 5km in 15:11, the 10km in 30:40 and the half in 65:44 before clocking 2:14:18, missing the then world record by 14 seconds.
This time he kept his pace much better, though, for running splits of 64:16 and 65:40 in the halves, which track and field ranking systems have concluded is equivalent to a four-minute mile.
Chepngetich’s 2:09:56 means the women’s world record is 9:21 slower than Kelvin Kiptum’s men’s world record of 2:00:35. By comparison, Radcliffe’s 2:15:25 was 9:47 slower than Khalid Khanushi’s men’s record of 2:05:38 in 2003.
Paula Radcliffe (Mark Shearman)
Similarly, Radcliffe’s figure ranked him 304th in the world in 2003 (and topped the UK men’s list that year), while Czepngetic is now 284th in the 2024 rankings, although he is sure to drop further to end of this year, considering the number of best marathons. remains on the calendar.
Much has been made of the advancements in shoe technology, and Czepngetic was wearing the Nike AlphaFly 3 on Sunday. Nutrition has also improved a lot in the last 20 years, with athletes much less likely to hit the ‘wall’.
These shoes, drinks and gels are widely available to everyone, however, which means many people believe other factors are at play.
Letsrun.com He asked Chepngetichi about doping at the press conference. Given the alarming number of Kenyan drug positives in recent years, it was a fair question and merely echoed what many had been posting on social media.
“You know,” he replied, “people have to talk, but… people have to talk that I don’t know.”
READ MORE. The Chepngetik storm set a world record
Cepngetic, who has never failed a drug test, went on to explain that he has been training himself and the world record has been in his sights for some time.
“My plan was 2:09 or 2:10,” he said. “The world record is not easy. You need focus and determination.”
The Evolution of the Women’s Marathon World Record
2:25:28 Grete Waitz, London 1983
2:21:06 Ingrid Christiansen, London 1985
2:20:47 Loroupe jar, Rotterdam 1998
2:20:43 Lorupe, Berlin 1999
2:19:46 Naoko Takahashi, Berlin 2001
2:18:47 Catherine Ndereba, Chicago 2001
2:17:18 Paula Radcliffe, Chicago 2002
2:15:25 Radcliffe, London 2003
2:14:04 Brigid Kosgey, Chicago 2019
2:11:53 Tigist Asefa, Berlin
2:09:56 Ruth Chepngetic, Chicago 2024
READ MORE. Paula Radcliffe’s World Record: 2:15:25
Chepngetich’s marathon progress
2017 – 2:22:36 Istanbul
2018 – 2:18:35 Istanbul
2019 – 2:17:08 Dubai
2020 – 2:22:05 London
2021 – 2:22:31 Chicago
2022 – 2:14:18 Chicago
2023 – 2:15:37 Chicago
2024 – 2:09:56 Chicago
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