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The 1968 Boston Marathon champion expressed doubts about Ruth Chepng’etich’s recent marathon world record, comparing it to past controversial performances, despite acknowledging her impressive career and past successes.
The 1968 Boston Marathon champion Ambrose Burfoot, popularly known as Amby Burfoot has detailed why he finds it difficult to believe Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record as he dragged the late Florence Griffith Joyner and the Chinese women runners of 1993 into the mess of his doubts.
The veteran marathoner turned writer-editor, book author, and coach explained that Ruth Chepng’etich’s performance in Chicago was outstanding but he finds it hard to believe that she really participated as a clean athlete.
Ruth Chepng’etich clocked an impressive 2:09:56 to completely obliterate the previous world record set by Tigst Assefa at the 2023 Berlin Marathon. The American explained that he could be wrong about his judgements but insisted that there was no need to remain silent in such a situation.
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“I’m going to try to explain as briefly as possible why I am so troubled by this performance. And I admit that I could be wrong. After all, I have no evidence that Chepng’etich cheated, as she has never failed a doping test. But I don’t think I’m wrong. And I don’t think this is a time to be quiet,” he wrote as quoted by Marathon handbook.
Amby Burfoot compared Ruth Chepng’etich’s performance to that of Kelvin Kiptum, noting that it ‘is only about 7.75% slower than’ the world record. He claimed that the time should be 10 to 11% slower, like all the other male-female differentials in the running record books.
Burfoot did not rule out the fact that Ruth Chepng’etich is an impressive marathon runner who has achieved a lot in her glamorous career, including having three titles from the Chicago Marathon having won in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Chepng’etich also won the world marathon title at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar and one fact about her is that she is self-coached.
“There’s a massive amount of data behind these percentages, and historically any small variation amounts to a highly suspect performance. You could argue that Chepng’etich has a robust career with many great marathon performances to support her, as she has now won Chicago three times: in 2021, 2022 and this year,” he said.
“She’s also put up seven of the top 100 fastest times in history, including her previous personal best of 2:14:18, when she won the Chicago Marathon two years ago. I agree with that history. But I disagree that it amounts to supporting evidence that we should just blindly place trust in this new world record.”
He argued that all runners know that when it gets to a certain point in their careers, it’s hard to continue posting faster times, insisting that Ruth Chepng’etich is at that level. At 30, she has run 15 marathons since 2017.
He added that the Kenyan marathon running ace shaved almost five minutes off her previous best, something that does not happen easily after an athlete has hit their peak. He cited examples of marathoners like American record holder Emily Sisson and Keira D’Amato and argued that it’s hard for them to improve at this point.
He added that Eliud Kipchoge is also an example of an athlete who reached his peak gradually, starting as a 2:05 marathoner back in 2013 and ending up 10 years later as a 2:01 marathoner.
“There have been far too many doping busts in Kenya in the last several years. That doesn’t make Chepng’etich guilty, but it casts a long shadow. Thirty years ago I thought Kenyans were the cleanest runners on the planet. That was then. This is a different (and worse) era,” he said.
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08:19 - 17.10.2024
'Apologize? For what?'- Journalist who asked Ruth Chepng'etich about doping claims breaks silence after Kenyan parliament demands apology
Kenyans, including Uasin Gishu MP Gladys Boss Shollei, criticized journalist Robert Johnson for questioning Ruth Chepng'etich's world record, with Shollei demanding an apology in parliament, while Johnson defended his inquiry as part of his job.
He added that Ruth Chepng’etich having run at the London Marathon earlier this year and finished ninth in 2:24:36 should raise eyebrows on how she has come to break the world record easily in Chicago.
“That’s exactly what Chepng’etich should be running. It’s roughly equivalent to a 2:18 marathon. So how did she run 2:09:56 in Chicago? How did she go out at 2:06 pace, and pass the half marathon in 64:16? When Tigist Assefa ran 2:11:53 last year in Berlin, setting the previous record, she at least had the good sense to run negative splits,” he questioned.
“I’m not staying quiet this time around. Sorry. We don’t have proof, but we know what we know. Women’s running has been down this road before. The record books still include East German cheats, the impossible Florence Griffith Joyner, and the inscrutable Chinese women runners of 1993,” he concluded.
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