Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge won the 45th edition of the BMW Berlin Marathon in Germany on Sunday, breaking the world record at 2:01:39.
The 33-year-old Kenyan smashed the previous world record set in Berlin by fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto in 2014 by 1 minute and 18 seconds.
Sunday’s event saw a Kenyan trio topping the list, with Berlin debutant Amos Kipruto and former world-record holder Wilson Kipsang clinching the second and third spots at 2:06:23 and 2:06:48 respectively.
The world record has now officially been broken for the sixth time.
“I had great belief that I could achieve this feat and running a sub 2 hours two minutes was simply amazing and I believe I can still go below that with such good conditions. I could have posted better times if he went with the pacesetters up to 30km mark,” Kipchoge said after the race.
“The last pacesetter went out at 25km mark but that still inspired me to continue pushing alone,” explained Kipchoge adding that he shall defend his title perhaps with another new record next year.
“Berlin forever! I shall come back here next year,” he said.
Shogo Nakamura of Japan came third with a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 16 seconds.
In the women category, Kenyan Gladys Cherono defended her crown in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 11 seconds, a new women’s record for the Berlin marathon.
Ethiopian duo Rutia Aga and Tirunesh Dibaba came second and third with 02:18:34 and 02:18:55 respectively.
Top 10 Men’s Results
1 Kipchoge, Eliud (KEN) 2:01:39
2 Kipruto, Amos (KEN) 02:06:23
3 Kipsang, Wilson (KEN) 02:06:48
4 Nakamura, Shogo (JPN) 02:08:16
5 Tadese, Zersenay (ERI) 02:08:46
6 Sato, Yuki (JPN) 02:09:18
7 Tsegay, Okubay (ERI) 02:09:56
8 Uekado, Daisuke (JPN) 02:11:07
9 Canchanya, Wily (PER) 02:12:57
10 van Nunen, Bart (NED) 02:13:09
Top 10 Women
1 Cherono, Gladys (KEN) 02:18:11
2 Aga, Ruti (ETH) 02:18:34
3 Dibaba, Tirunesh (ETH) 02:18:55
4 Kiplagat, Edna (KEN) 02:21:18
5 Matsuda, Mizuki (JPN) 02:22:23
6 Tola, Helen (ETH) 02:22:48
7 Maeda, Honami (JPN) 02:25:23
8 Rocha, Carla Salome (POR) 02:25:27
9 Uehara, Miyuki (JPN) 02:25:46
10 Ohara, Rei (JPN) 02:27:29
