London Marathon: second best time ever for Kelvin Kiptum and first victory for Sifan Hassan

One won the first marathon of her career, the other signed the second fastest time in history -16 seconds off the world record-, but both have left their mark: the Dutch Sifan Hassan and Kenyan kelvin kiptum on Sunday he won a high-flying London Marathon.

Before London, Hassan, Olympic champion of the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in Tokyo in 2021 (a historic haul accompanied by a bronze in the 1,500 meters), had never run the distance and, before starting the athletics season, on free air , wanted to test itself with a view to the Olympic Games in Paris next year.

Kiptum, for his part, had impressed by becoming the third best record holder in history (2:01.53) in his first marathon, in Valencia in December. only legendary Eliud Kipchoge AND Kenenissa Bekele they had gotten better times.

This time, in the rain, he was even faster than in Valencia (2h01:25), just 16 seconds off the world record of what is considered the best marathon runner in history, his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge (2h01:09), with his time reached in September 2022 in Berlin.

That brand now seems very threatened by this new Kenyan phenomenon, only 23 years old, who seems determined not to deprive himself of anything. Not even the legendary two-hour barrier: Kiptum scores an extraordinary second half of the race (59:47).

“I am very happy with the result”Kiptum told the BBC. “I don’t know what to say right now. I’m just grateful. The race went well. There was a little rain in the middle of the test, but everything went well,” he concluded.

“I like running marathons. I love them,” she added.

Very comfortable at the start of the race, he launched an aggressive acceleration after an hour and a half into the race, giving him several meters ahead of the rest of the lead pack, which Bekele had lagged behind earlier.

The Kenyan far preceded his compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor and the Ethiopian Tamirat Tola, world champion of the discipline.

The legendary British athlete Mo Farahin his last marathon before retiring, he finished ninth (2:10:28).

“I gave everything, but my body didn’t respond, and then you realize it’s time” Retired, the 40-year-old four-time Olympic champion said, after confirming he would leave athletics in September, at the Great North Run in north-west England.

The feat of the Kenyan Kiptum came after a first masterpiece, the one signed by hassan. At 30, the Dutchman is already a legend of track and field athletics. But he debuted in the marathon and no one knew what he could offer.

After the 2019 and 2020 winner and world record holder, Kenyan Brigid Kosgei, dropped out in the first minutes, the race seemed wide open. But going into the event, Hassan wasn’t a real favorite against more experienced distance runners like Kenyan Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir.

After an hour of racing she even seemed excluded, forced to slow down due to an annoyance on the left side of her hip, remaining behind the leading group. But you continued to fight and came back taking advantage of a drop in pace from the leader.

With 500 meters to go, she was in contention with Ethiopian Alemu Megertu (2nd) and Jepchirchir (3rd), but the track specialist’s superior top speed enabled her to win the sprint. Her latest acceleration left no way out for Megertu and Jepchirchir, who finished with a respectable time (2h18: 33).

“I didn’t think I could finish and not only did I finish, but I won”Hassan explained to the BBC minutes after reaching the finish line.

“It’s just amazing, I’ll never forget it”hill.