Kenya's Kipchoge sets new marathon world record in Berlin

Reuters - Kenya's Kipchoge sets new marathon world record in Berlin Kenya's Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge set a sensational world record over the distance on Sunday (September 16), shaving more than a minute off the previous best with a dazzling run in Berlin, Germany. 33-year-old Kipchoge, widely seen as the greatest marathon runner of the modern era, defended his title from last year's Berlin Marathon with an official time of time of two hours, one minutes and 39 seconds on a sunny and warm autumn day along the flat inner-city course to beat Dennis Kimetto's world best by a minute and 18 seconds - set in Berlin back in 2014. Kipchoge is also a former world champion over 5,000 meters and marathon gold medallist at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. He started off with a sizzling pace and quickly shook off his biggest opponent, Wilson Kipsang, to make it a one-man race. It was clear after the opening few kilometers that Kipchoge's only opponent would be the clock and his three pacemakers were pushed to the limit to keep the tempo high. Kipchoge kept up the pace to sprint through the Brandenburg Gate and complete a world record run that cements his reputation as one of the greatest runners of all time. Kipchoge missed out on becoming the first athlete to run the marathon in under two hours by just 26 seconds - his time was not recognized as a world record because in-out pacemakers were used. He also won the London Marathon in 2018. Gladys Cherono won the women's race in two hours 18 minutes and 11 seconds, beating Ethiopian duo Aga Ruti and Tirunesh Dibaba who finished second and third respectively.