World record-holder Chepnegetich to run London Marathon
World record-holder Ruth Chepngetich will run the TCS London Marathon on April 27 and she believes she can set another world mark on British soil.
Chepngetich stunned the world at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last year when she became the first woman in history to break the 2:10 barrier for the marathon. The 30-year-old Kenyan clocked 2:09:56 last October, knocking nearly two minutes off the previous world record set by Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa in 2023.
Chepngetich, who has won the Chicago Marathon three times plus marathon gold at the World Championships in 2019, will now set her sights on making her mark at the TCS London Marathon where she will come up against the Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and the reigning London champion Peres Jepchirchir in a mouth-watering match-up of marathon greats.
As well as being the defending champion, Jepchirchir is the owner of the second world record which exists in women’s marathon running – the women-only race world record.
Unlike the Chicago Marathon, where the elite women run alongside their male counterparts, the TCS London Marathon has a stand-alone elite women’s race and Jepchirchir’s winning time of 2:16:16 in the 2024 edition was the fastest ever in this category.
Chepngetich believes with the calibre of field assembled that world record could fall again at the 2025 TCS London Marathon.
She said: “The TCS London Marathon always brings together the best athletes in the world and I am sure this year will be as competitive as ever. Myself, Peres and the other women are strong, so it will be a competitive one and I want to prepare as best as I can and we will see if we can lower Peres’s world record of 2:16:16 from last year. With the strength of the field, I think we can support each other and maybe the world record will fall.”
Chepngetich has raced the London Marathon twice before, finishing third in the unique 2020 edition of the event, which was held on a multi-lap course around St James’s Park during the Covid-19 pandemic, and then ninth last year.
In total, she has run three of the 10 fastest women’s marathon times in history and is the only woman to run inside 2:16 on three separate occasions.
In the men’s field it has been announced that defending champion Alex Mutiso of Kenya will return to defend his title. Mutiso’s win at last year’s TCS London Marathon was the biggest of his career and helped him win selection on the Kenyan marathon team for the Paris Olympic Games where he finished 21st.
Mutiso’s opponents this year will include the reigning Olympic champion Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia.
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