'The world record will fall' - Ruth Chepng'etich fires warning to rivals ahead of London Marathon showdown

'The world record will fall' - Ruth Chepng'etich fires warning to rivals ahead of London Marathon showdown

Evans Ousuru 05:20 - 16.01.2025

Ruth Chepng'etich will look to redeem herself in the London Marathon after finishing ninth last year but faces competition from Peres Jepchirchir and Olympic champion Sifan Hassan.

World marathon record holder Ruth Chepng'etich wants to lower Peres Jepchirchir's London Marathon record of 2:16:16  set last year.

Chepng'etich, the three-time Chicago marathon champion, will face stiff competition against compatriot Jepchirchir and Olympic champion Sifan Hassan at this year’s event scheduled for April 27.

Chepng'etich, who is the first woman to break the 2:11 and 2:10 barriers in the marathon, is banking on best preparations to win gold in the United Kingdom. "I want to prepare as best as I can and we will see if we can lower Peres’s world record of 2:16:16 from last year. With the strength of the field, I think we can support each other and maybe the world record will fall,” Chepng'etich told Citizen Digital.

The 30-year-old finished ninth at last year’s event, but in October, the Kericho-born runner obliterated the women's world record by clocking 2:09:56 in Chicago.

The 2019 world champion took nearly two minutes off the previous best. Chepng'etich pointed out that setting a world record was unimaginable at first. "I didn't know (setting the world record in Chicago) was possible, but I came to realise that dreams can come true."

Chepng'etich holds the sixth-fastest women's mark of all time for the half marathon, at 1 hour 4 minutes and 2 seconds which was at lstanbul Half-Marathon

In 2019, she won the world title in the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, clocking 2:32:43 after a midnight start due to sweltering and humid conditions.