The Kenyan clocked 2:09:56 in Chicago last year and will now compete with Sifan Hassan and Peres Jepchirchir in the British capital on April 27.
World record holder Ruth Czepngetic will compete in the TCS London Marathon on April 27 and believes she can set another world mark on British soil.
Chepngetic stunned the world at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last year when she became the first woman in history to break the 2:10 barrier. The 30-year-old Kenyan clocked 2:09:56 last October, nearly two minutes off the previous world record. which was set by Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa in 2023.
Cepngetic, who has won the Chicago Marathon three times, plus marathon gold at the 2019 World Championships, will now look to make his mark at the TCS London Marathon, where he will face Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and reigning London champion Perez Jepchirshire in a great matchup of marathon greats.
In addition to being the reigning champion, Jepchirchir is the second world record holder in the women’s marathon.
Ruth Cepngetich (Getty)
Unlike the Chicago Marathon, where elite women run alongside their male counterparts, the TCS London Marathon has a separate elite women’s race, and Jepchirchir’s winning time of 2:16:16 at the 2024 edition was the fastest ever in this category.
Czepngetic believes that with the caliber of field assembled, the world record could fall again at the 2025 TCS London Marathon.
He said: “The TCS London Marathon always brings together the best athletes in the world and I’m sure this year will be as competitive as ever. Me, Perez and the other women are strong, so it’s going to be competitive and I want to prepare as well as possible , and we’ll see if we can lower Perez’s world record of 2:16:16 from last year. With the strength of the field, I think we can support each other and maybe the world record will fall.”
Czepngetic has competed in the London Marathon twice before, finishing third in the unique 2020 edition of the event, held on a multi-stage course around St James’s Park during the Covid-19 pandemic, and then ninth last year.
In all, she has run three of the 10 fastest women’s marathon times in history and is the only woman to run under 2:16 on three separate occasions.
In the men’s field, it has been announced that reigning champion Alex Mutizo of Kenya will return to defend his title. Mutiso’s win at last year’s TCS London Marathon was the biggest of his career and helped him win Kenya’s marathon team for the Paris Olympics, where he finished 21st.
Mutiso’s rivals this year will be the current Olympic champion Tamirat Tola from Ethiopia.
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