The huge wall of ‘2 hours and 10 minutes’ that was considered impossible in the women’s marathon has finally been broken.
Ruth Cephengeti (Kenya) was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 2:09:56 at the 2024 Chicago Marathon held in Chicago, the U.S. on Wednesday (local time). With this, she advanced the previous world record of 2:11:53 set by Tigist Asefa (Ethiopia) at the Berlin Marathon in September last year by nearly two minutes.
Until now, the prevailing view was that the record of “2 hours and 10 minutes” in the women’s marathon was close to impossible. However, as Chepchen Getty overcame it, a new history of the world’s women’s marathon was written once again.
She was particularly strong in the Chicago Marathon. The 2019 World Athletics Championships women’s marathon champion won her first victory in the 2021 Chicago Marathon and will be wearing her third laurel crown in 2024, following 2022. Second place went to Sutume Asefa Kebebe of Ethiopia, who ran in 2:17:32.
Chaffengeti got off to a fresh start, running the first 5km in 15 minutes with a blistering pace. TV commentators were surprised, comparing his run to a moon landing, according to Reuters.
“My dream has come true. The world record was always in my heart,” Cheffen Getty said after the game. “He set a new men’s marathon record (2 hours 00 minutes 35 seconds) in Chicago last year, but he dedicated his world record to his colleague Kelvin Kieftum, who died in a car accident in Kenya four months later,” Reuters reported.
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
