Eliud Kipchoge Breaks Marathon World Record In Berlin
Eliud Kipchoge set a new World Record of two hours, 1 minute, and nine seconds, in winning the 2022 Berlin Marathon.
Kenyan icon Kipchoge claimed victory in Berlin for the fourth time, adding to titles won in 2015, 2017, and 2018, and in so doing shaved 30 seconds off his own marathon World Record.
Even by the halfway point in Berlin, the previous mark was under threat. Kipchoge reached the midway point in under an hour and crossed the 40-kilometer mark at one hour, 54 minutes, and 49 seconds.
He passed under the Brandenburg Gate – 350 meters from the finish line – with 90 seconds to go, cruised the final stretch, and clapped his hands as he crossed the line before embracing his coach.
Fellow Kenyan Mark Korir was Kipchoge’s nearest competitor, finishing nearly five minutes behind him in second place.
Kipchoge also set the previous mark in Berlin, back in 2018.
Berlin, famously a flat course, has now seen the marathon World Record broken 12 times. Kenyan runners have been responsible for seven of those new marks since 2003.
Even so, Kipchoge had played down expectations of doing the same earlier this week. Kipchoge told the press: “I always say I don’t call a world record but I want to run a good race. Be it a world record, be it a personal best, be it a good race but let us call it a good race. If all goes well and it becomes either a personal best or world record, then I will celebrate. I don’t know my limits, actually, in Berlin. But I’ll try to push myself. I don’t know where [the] limit is.”
Kipchoge’s new mark is tantalizingly close to the mythical two-hour barrier. The Kenyan became the first documented runner to break that barrier in 2019, but his run was not sanctioned by the IAAF and therefore is not considered a World Record.
Kipchoge’s fourth victory in Berlin equals the record set by Ethiopian legend Haile Gebreselassie.
Having won his first Tokyo Marathon this year – where he set a race record – Kipchoge has now won four of the six World Marathon Majors. Only Boston and New York have thus far eluded him. He will also attempt to become the first man to twice defend an Olympic title in Paris in 2024.
