“My loved ones are my driving force. We hope to serve as an example to today’s youth. As a result of the common ground that sport provides, it drives me to succeed.
Early on, only a select few runners, including the group of pacemakers, were able to stay up with Kipchoge.
He began to pull away from defending champion Guye Adola about the midway point, but fellow Ethiopian Andamlak Belihu had none of it.
Near the 27-kilometer mark, Belihu gave up and fell behind Kipchoge’s record-setting pace.
The Kenyan, who successfully defended his Olympic title at last year’s Tokyo Games, was not to be denied in Berlin despite missing his world record by more than a minute at the Tokyo Marathon in March.
Although he slowed down a bit in the race’s second half, he still managed to sprint the final 500 meters.
As the sun rose over the horizon, Kipchoge sprinted through the city’s famous Brandenburg Gate and across the finish line, setting yet another world record.
Kipchoge is the only man to run a marathon in under two hours, clocking 1:59.40 on a specially created track in Vienna in 2019. However, the IAAF was not recognized this time because it was not set in competition.
Kipchoge responded, “Let us prepare for another day,” when asked if he would try to run under two hours in Berlin next year. It’s time to break this record, and I know I have to accept whatever consequences may follow. Let the dice fall where they may.
Mark Korir, also from Kenya, finished second, four minutes and fifty seconds back, while Ethiopia’s Tadu Abate came in third.
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Ethiopian Tigist Assefa shocked the competition and won the women’s race at 2:15:37, the third-fastest time ever. Among women, only Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei and Britain’s Paula Radcliffe have ever raced quicker marathons.
