Kiptum breaks Kipchoge’s record in stunning fashion at Chicago Marathon

Kelvin Kiptum is the new marathon record holder after breaking Eliud Kipchoge's record when he won the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 8, 2023.

The London Marathon champion ran in 2:00:35 to win the race and set a new record. Benson Kipruto, the defending Chicago Marathon champion, was second after running 2:04:02, while Belgium's Bashir Abdi finished third after clocking 2:04:32.

Kiptum steals the show

Meanwhile, Kiptum led the rivals for the majority of the race, and the athletes went past the 10km mark in 28:42. As they hit the 15-kilometer mark, Kiptum was still in the lead, with Daniel Mateiko being the closest rival at that point.

Mateiko had not managed to go past Kiptum as the leading pack hit the 20km mark. At this point, Kipruto was in fourth place, fighting to close in on the leading unit.

There was no sign that Kiptum was ready to surrender the lead position as they crossed the 25km mark. The 23-year-old crossed that point in 1:12:04, with Mateiko doing so in 1:12:05.

At the 30km mark, Kipruto was all but assured of not defending his title, given that he was running in seventh place chasing a pack of Ethiopian rivals.

Kiptum opened the gap with Mateiko as the race hit the 33km mark, and at 35km, he was almost unchallenged as he crossed that mark in 1:40:22.

Mateiko, who was making his Chicago Marathon debut, crossed that point in 1:41:11.

Kiptum's record

Finally, Kiptum won and almost broke the two-hour barrier. Nonetheless, he broke Kipchoge's world record of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon.

Kiptum, who has run three career marathons in one year, posted three of the six fastest times in history. He did so with a 2:01:53 record in Valencia in December, followed by a 2:01:25 record set in London in April.