Reigning Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya crushed the women’s-only world record in winning the London Marathon on Sunday.
Jepchirchir, 30, pulled away over the final 300 meters in a sprint finish, crossing the finish line in front of Buckingham Palace in 2 hours, 16 minutes, 16 seconds to break Mary Keitany’s mark of 2:17:01 set at the 2017 London race.
Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia, who clocked 2:11:53 at the Berlin Marathon in September to set a world record for women in a race alongside male runners, crossed second in 2:16.23.
Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya, the 2021 London winner, was third in 2:16.24.
Alexander Mutiso Munyao of Kenya held off Kenenisa Bekele in the final 3 kilometers to win the men’s race in 2:04:01.
Mutiso Munyao and Bekele were in a two-way fight until the Kenyan made his move as they ran along the River Thames, quickly building a six-second gap that only grew as he ran toward the finish in front of Buckingham Palace.
Ethiopian Bekele finished 14 seconds behind. Emile Cairess was third, more than two minutes back, to become the first British man on the podium in London since 1996.
Bekele, who was an Olympic 5000- and 10,000-meter champion, was also the runner-up in London in 2017 but has never won the race. The 41-year-old did lower his own masters world record by 4 seconds.
Marcel Hug earned his fifth London win in the men’s wheelchair race, finishing in 1:28:35. Catherine Debrunner won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:38:54.
Prior to Sunday’s race, the London Marathon paid tribute to last year’s winner Kelvin Kiptum, the world-record holder who was killed along with his coach in a car crash in his native Kenya in February.
Kiptum had set a London Marathon course record of 2:01:25 in 2023 — finishing nearly three minutes ahead of his closest rival — before setting the world record at last year’s Chicago Marathon.
A video of his London win was played before the start of the men’s race Sunday, before a period of applause by the runners and the crowd at both the start area in Greenwich and the finish.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
