Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon last year, taking 30 seconds off the marathon world record he had set in the same city on September 16 in 2018.
The two-time Olympic marathon champion went out hard, passing through 5km in 14:14 and 10km in 28:22 – not just comfortably inside world record pace, but also well inside a projected two-hour finish.
Kipchoge managed to maintain that pace through half way, which was reached in 59:50 – identical to his half-way split when he produced a sub-two-hour run in an unofficial orchestrated race in Vienna three years ago. His pace started to drop slightly from then on, but he was still comfortably inside world record pace.
Ethiopia’s Andamlak Belihu tried to keep up with Kipchoge’s pace, but Kipchoge had his own tactics and dropped him at the 21km mark. Kipchoge then gradually pulled clear and was out on his own.
He passed through 30km in 1:25:40, then reached 35km in 1:40:10. By the time he passed through 40km in 1:54:53, his lead had grown to move than four minutes.
Kipchoge went on to cross the line in 2:01:09, making this the eighth consecutive men’s marathon world record to be set in Berlin.
Another Kenyan, Mark Korir settled for second place and Ethiopia’s Tadu Abate placed second and third in respective times of 2:05:58 and 2:06:28.
"I am overjoyed to have broken the world record. I wanted to run the first half so fast. After 38km I knew I would be capable of breaking the world record. The circumstances were great, and so was the organisation,” Kipchoge said after winning the race.
Other ratified world records
Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo successfully defended his 100m title at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali. He had broken the championship record in his heat with 10.00, then won his semifinal in 10.14 before going on to dominate the final in 9.91 (0.8m/s).
His winning time took 0.03 off the world U20 record he had set in Eugene in the heats of the World Athletics Championships.
Another world U20 record fell in the women’s 4x100m. Jamaican quartet of Serena Cole, Tina Clayton, Kerrica Hill and Tia Clayton teamed up to take the title in 42.59, taking 0.35 off the previous record.