London. The Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir, current Olympic champion, won the London Marathon on Sunday, where her compatriot Alexander Mutiso achieved his first major title.
In two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds, Jepchirchir thus erased the mark established in 2017 by her compatriot Mary Keitany (2h17:01), also in the British capital.
On Sunday, an acceleration in the last meters helped her beat Ethiopian Tigst Assefa, who in 2023 became the fastest runner in the world in Berlin.
In her first participation in the London Marathon, Assefa finished in second position, seven seconds behind the winner, just ahead of the Kenyan Joyciline Jepkosgei (2:16:24).
This year, the London Marathon featured high competition, with three of the world’s four fastest runners starting. Only the Dutch Sifan Hassan, winner of the 2023 edition, was missing.
In the men’s category, Alexander Mutiso won the competition with a time of 2:04:15 hours, succeeding his compatriot Kelvin Kiptum, who died in February in a car accident and to whom he paid tribute.
Second in Valencia in December, Mutiso took off in the final kilometers to cross the finish line ahead of the experienced Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele (2h04:15) and the British Emile Cairess (02h06:46).
The race was orphaned this year by the 2023 winner Kelvin Kiptum, the fastest runner in history, who died in February at the age of 24 in a car accident with his coach.
Before the start, his face appeared in black and white on giant screens, and the participants applauded for 30 seconds in his honor.
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– 2024-04-26 17:24:13
