Olympic gold winner Eliud Kipchoge has broken the world marathon record, clocking the BMW Berlin race in 2 hours, 1 minute and 39 seconds on Sunday.
The Kenyan defended his title by breaking a world record set by compatriot Dennis Kimetto in 2014 by 1 minute and 18 seconds. It was the sixth time the marathon record had been broken.
“I lack words to describe this day,” the 33-year-old said after winning the race. “They say you miss two times, but you can’t miss the third time.”
Amos Kipruto and Wilson Kipsang clinched the second and third position to sweep a Kenyan 1-2-3 finish.
Speaking after winning the Berlin race, Kipchoge expressed his happiness for breaking the record and said he was hopeful he was going to defend his title successfully. “I had great belief that I could achieve this feat and running a sub 2 hours two minutes was simply amazing.”
Gladys Cherono won the women race, setting a new record in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 11 seconds. The 35-year-old Kenyan was followed by Ethiopia’s Ruti Aga and Tirunesh Dibaba.
Canada’s Brent Lakatos won the men’s wheelchair race while Manuela Schar set a new record in the women’s wheelchair category.
44,389 runners from 133 countries participated in the BMW Berlin marathon as per the event’s organizers.
