With the legs of a young man despite his 37 years, the Kenyan eliud kipchoge smashed his own world record on Sunday in Berlin, in 2 hours, 1 minute and 9 seconds, where at times he seemed to be able to go under two hours.
“Berlin is a place where everyone has an opportunity to push their limits. I have always said that I did not believe in limits, I have always said that no human is limited,” said the Kenyan during a press conference after the race.
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The double Olympic champion had set his previous record (2h01:39) on September 16, 2018, also in the German capital, which has a flat route conducive to records and, on this occasion, he completed the first half of the race together to his “hares” in 59 minutes and 51 seconds.
Halfway through the race, Kipchoge seemed in a position to squeeze under the mythical two-hour barrier, but he slowed down in the second half of the race. Just after the race, the Kenyan commented: “We were very fast in the first half. We had planned 60 minutes and 50 seconds in the first half but my legs were so good that I shot myself.”
your countryman Mark Korir finished second with a time of 2h05:58 and the Ethiopian Abbot Tadu He was third (2h06:28). Fellow Ethiopian Andamlak Belihu, who kept pace with Kipchoge for two-thirds of the race, finished fourth.
Kipchoge wanted to remember the role of his team after the race. “I was very happy with my preparation,” he told German television. “The world record is due to true teamwork,” he added.
Four-time champion in Berlin
Considered the best marathon runner in history, the Kenyan is the only one to have managed to lose more than two hours, but in particular conditions and in a non-approved way. It happened in Vienna in 2019, at an event created with the aim of him achieving the mark.
The unofficial record was 1h59:41, but it was not considered valid. That day he was helped by 41 “hares” who were relayed in groups with seven runners around him, changing every five kilometers. Before the Berlin marathon, the athlete minimized his chances of getting under two hours. “I’m not going to run under two hours in Berlin, I’m just going to do a good race.”
“If I have a good race, I will beat my personal record,” he added. And he has achieved it. With this record, he expands an impressive track record, which includes Olympic medals, first in shorter distances (a bronze in 2004 and a silver in 2008) in the 5,000 m and later gold medals in Rio in 2016 and in Tokyo in 2021.
In addition, Kipchoge is the second athlete in history to win the Berlin Marathon four times. The first to achieve this feat was the Ethiopian Haile Gebreselassiewho dominated the event between 2006 and 2009. When asked at a press conference about his goals for the next two years, especially to get below two hours, he replied “I don’t have a plan at the moment”.
“I am African and in Africa we believe that you have to hunt the hares one by one,” he said. The women’s race was won by the Ethiopian Tigist Assefa, who achieved the third fastest time in history (2:15:37). For this she surpassed the Kenyan Rosemary Wanjiru, who came second with a time of 2h18:00 and her Ethiopian compatriot Tigist Abayechew, third (2h18:03).
“My intention was not to run so fast. In the last section I decided to push, I was in fantastic shape,” said the champion during the press conference, estimating that the very enthusiastic Berlin public had been very supportive.
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🥇Impressive 👉 The Kenyan athlete,
Eliud Kipchoge, 37, broke the world record again in the Berlin marathon with a time of 2:01:09 in 42 km, half a minute less than his own mark in 2018 which was 2:01:39. pic.twitter.com/aEKF0pnHeT– Thirteen Sports (@TreceCRDeportes) September 25, 2022
AFP
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