(Chicago) Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum, still unknown a year ago, achieved the feat of erasing his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge’s marathon world record on Sunday in Chicago in 2 hours, 35 seconds.
Already close to beating the old record (2:01:09 by Kipchoge in Berlin in 2022) in London in April, Kiptum, aged 23, was only competing in his third marathon in Illinois, but without Kipchoge, the winner. in Berlin in September. A duel is possible at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
By subtracting 34 seconds from his elder brother’s time, Kiptum has just redefined the limits of the premier event of road racing. Still fresh upon arrival in Chicago, where he greeted the crowd with kisses in the final stretch, his strength and youth make him a candidate to run the first official marathon in less than two hours.
Kipchoge succeeded in this bet during an unofficial event organized for him in Vienna in 2019 (1:59:40). The two men, who hold eight of the ten fastest times in history, are supporting the running revolution after the arrival of new generation shoes in 2016. They both wore a new model from their equipment manufacturer this fall.
In Chicago, passed in 1 hour and 48 seconds at the halfway point, Kiptum managed as usual to accelerate in the second half (59:47) to let go of his compatriot Daniel Mateiko at the 33rd kilometer, before flying towards the finish line, in perfect weather conditions (between 7 and 10 degrees, overcast, light wind).
“I wasn’t necessarily ready for it, but a world record, I’m so happy! I knew I would break this record one day,” said the winner.
“When I saw the time in front of me I felt so good, with an adrenaline rush. »
Less than a year after his first marathon in Valencia (2:01:53 in December 2022), Kiptum slapped the clock of the greatest runner in history, against whom he has never run, over the distance queen. Eliud Kipchoge, aged 38, had triumphed after a career built in stages, first on the track until he was 27.
A few minutes after the Kenyan, the Dutch Sifan Hassan achieved another feat by signing the second best time in history in 2:13:44, only six weeks after winning two medals at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest (silver 5000m, bronze 1500m).
All just two weeks after the unprecedented world record of the Ethiopian Tigst Assefa in Berlin in 2:11:53, she with the new shoe from a competing equipment manufacturer.
Kiptum’s record, who won his only three contested marathons, all supersonic, in eleven months, is less of a surprise than his breakthrough in December 2022 in Valencia (2:01:53).
Kiptum trains near his home village, Chepkorio, about forty kilometers from Eldoret, the mecca of Kenyan running, led by Rwandan Gervais Hakizimana.
This former national level runner, French resident who competed in races in France between 2008 and 2019, met Kiptum during his training stays in Kenya, as he told AFP on Saturday.
“When we did hill climbing sessions in the forest near his house, he was small but would follow us, barefoot, after tending the goats and sheep. It was 2013, he hadn’t really started running yet. »
Kiptum began running regularly in 2016. In 2019, he completed two very fast half marathons in two weeks (60:48 in Copenhagen then 59:53 in Belfort, France), when Mr. Hakizimana offered to coach him for the marathon .
“In 2020 COVID-19 locked me in Kenya, I stayed there for a year and I trained in the forest. I ran with him, then we attacked a marathon program in 2021,” adds the Rwandan, reached by telephone.
“I would make discreet visits to Kipchoge to see how he trained,” he smiles.
While Kipchoge runs between 180 and 220 km per week, Kiptum runs more than 250 km per week, sometimes more than 300, assures his coach.
“It’s adventure! During the preparation for London we spent three weeks traveling over 300 km. It has a very large volume,” adds the technician, who speaks in Swahili and English with his protégé.
“At this pace he risks getting injured, breaking, I suggested he lower the pace but he doesn’t want to, he talks to me about the world record all the time. »
A goal achieved by the new athletics star on Sunday.
