Reigning Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir crushed the women’s-only world record after winning the 44th London Marathon on Sunday April 21.
The 30-year-old who won Olympic gold in the marathon at Tokyo 2020, finished the event in a time of two hours, 16 minutes, and 16 seconds, beating the previous leading mark of 2:17.01 set by Mary Jepkosgei Keitany in London back in 2017.
Jepchirchir came up against the world marathon record holder Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia, two-time London Marathon champion Brigid Kosgei and two-time Chicago Marathon champion Ruth Chepng’etich to notch up her third victory in a World Marathon Majors race.
Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia, who clocked 2:11.53 at the Berlin Marathon in September to set a world record for women in a race alongside male runners, crossed second in 2:16.23.
Joyceline Jepkosgei of Kenya, the 2021 London winner, was third clocking 2:16.24.
Notably, Jepchirchir was among six female marathoners selected by Athletics Kenya to undergo training for the Olympics.
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She is a previous half marathon record holder with 1:05:16 set during the World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland.
In 2022, Jepchirchir placed third in London clocking 2:18:38 in a race won by Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan who attained 2:18:33.
Ethiopia’s Alemu Megertu came in second (2:18:37) sealing the podium finishes.
Peres Jepchirchir Athletic Records
The now world record holder made her marathon debut – and not exactly an intended one – at the age of 20 at the Kisumu Safaricom Marathon.
“I was going there for the 10k and then I arrived and the 10k was only for people from that area,” she recalls. “I remember it a lot because I ran that first marathon without any long runs,” she told World Athletics.
Running in the altitude of Kisumu, Jepchirchir finished third in 2:47:33, more than 30 minutes short of her current Personal Best.
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Jepchirchir was the champion at the 2016 and 2020 World Half Marathon Championships.
Her best time for the half marathon of 1:05:06, set on 10 February 2017 in the UAE, is a former half marathon world record.
Similarly, her 2:17:16 victory at the Valencia Marathon at the end of 2020 was enough to secure her place on the Kenyan team.
She also claimed victories at the 2021 at a time of 2:22:39 New York City and 2022 Boston Marathon at a record 2:21:02 and finished third at the 2023 London Marathon.
In 2022 Jepchirchir became the first woman in history to have won Olympic, New York and Boston titles.
