Peres Jepchirchir, the Kenyan Olympic champion, outran Ethiopian world record holder Tigst Assefa in the last stages of the 2024 London Marathon in an incredible feat of skill and willpower. Her remarkable accomplishment cemented her position in history.
World-class fields will go for course records and target Olympic qualification in Sunday’s Haspa Marathon Hamburg. Kenya’s defending champion and course record holder Bernard Koech, who tied his personal best with 2:04:09 a year ago, is back while Gotytom Gebreslase, the World Champion from 2022, is the favourite in the women’s race. The Ethiopian, who has a PB of 2:18:18, wants to secure the third spot for the Paris Olympic race in Hamburg. Fellow-Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw holds Hamburg’s course record of 2:17:23. Late entry Nienke Brinkman will also try to qualify for Paris. The Dutch runner is the bronze medallist from the European Championships in Munich in 2022.
The 2024 TCS London Marathon witnessed an extraordinary feat as 76-year-old Jeannie Rice, a remarkable presence in the running world, surpassed her own world record in the women’s 75-79 age bracket. Crossing the finish line in a remarkable three hours, 33 minutes, and 27 seconds, Rice showcased an incredible improvement from her previous record achieved just last October in Chicago, at the age of 75.
The renowned marathoner Eliud Kipchoge courageously shared the difficult chapter he experienced after the untimely death of another accomplished Kenyan runner, Kelvin Kiptum, in an emotional interview with BBC Sport Africa. On February 11, Kiptum was involved in a tragic car accident that took his life, leaving the running community in shock.
