Brigid Kosgei cuts the tape to win the 2019 Chicago Marathon in new World Record time
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 – Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei obliterated Paula Radcliffe’s women’s marathon world record, clocking 2:14:04 on her way to clinching the Chicago Marathon title, lowering the Briton’s previous mark of 2:15:23 set in 2003.
Kosgei led the race for most of the final half and dipped deep into her energy reserves in the final 2km to ensure she breaks the record, just a day after compatriot Eliud Kipchoge became the first man ever to run the men’s marathon in under two hours.
Meanwhile, Lawrence Cherono won the men’s race with a dip in the final few metres to cut the tape in 2:05:45, just one second ahead of Ethiopia’s Dejene Debela.
Kosgei, who won in Chicago last year in 2:18:35 and improved her PB to 2:18:20 to win in London earlier this year, set out at a blisteringly fast pace, covering the first 5km in 15:28.
Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh was dragged through the section in a swift 15:36 with Gelete Burka a further 27 seconds in arrears.
Her pace dropped slightly after that initial enthusiasm but the 25-year-old settled into regular 16-minute splits for each five-kilometre segment.
-A minute ahead
She went through 10km in 31:28, 2:12:26 marathon pace, and 15km in 47:26. At that point she was almost a minute ahead of Yeshaneh, who herself was on schedule for a 2:16:00 finish at that point.
Kosgei’s half-way split of 1:06:59 suggested a finishing time of about 2:14:00.
Fewer than five kilometres later, her lead over Yeshaneh had grown to two minutes, reaching 25km in 1:19:33. As she continued to run behind two male pacemakers, Kosgei added another minute to her lead thanks to a 15:45 split between 25km and 30km.
Brigid kosgei poses with Briton Paula Radcliffe after breaking her 16-year old marathon world record at the 2019 Chicago Marathon
Another sub-16-minute five-kilometre segment followed, this time 15:56, and her 35km split (1:51:14) still indicated a finishing time about a minute inside Paula Radcliffe’s world record of 2:15:25, set 16 years ago.
The race was all about Kosgei’s world record attempt and she showed no signs of fading in the closing stages. The pace-makers peeled away before the final two miles as Kosgei forged on alone.
With about 20 seconds left of running, she couldn’t help but smile as she realised the magnitude of what she was about to achieve. Moments later, she crossed the line in 2:14:04 to take 81 seconds off the longest-standing marathon world record – men’s or women’s – in the post-war era.
-Good course
“I’m happy and I feel good,” said Kosgei. “I ran here last year so I knew it was a good course. There was a little bit of wind but it was okay. People were cheering all along the course, which gave me more energy.”
“We always knew the time would come when the record would be broken,” said Radcliffe, who was in Chicago and congratulated Kosgei when she finished. “When I saw how fast Brigid was running in the first half of the race, I knew she had a good chance of getting the record.
“I’ve always said 17 is my lucky number and it was exactly 17 years ago to the day that I set my first world record here in Chicago.”
-Additional info from IAAF
