London Marathon Men’s Winner Misses World Record by Just 16 Seconds
‘SO HAPPY’
As Kelvin Kiptum claimed his victory in the men’s race, Dutch runner Sifan Hassan battled a hip injury—and, at one point, a motorcyclist—to win the women’s division.
Kelvin Kiptum, a 23-year-old Kenyan athlete, won the London Marathon on Sunday morning with the second-fastest time in history, falling just a few seconds short of the all-time record. Kiptum’s finishing time of 2:01:25, a London track record, is 16 seconds behind Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:01:09 pace from the Berlin Marathon last September. “I am so happy with the result,” Kiptum said, according to the Associated Press. “I don’t know what to say right now, I am just grateful. The course felt good, there was a bit of rain around halfway but it was OK.” He crossed the finish line just minutes after Dutch Olympic track champion Sifan Hassan clinched the women’s race in her marathon debut. Hassan, 30, staged an extraordinary comeback after battling through a hip injury that left her in visible pain. She was also nearly clipped by an errant race motorcycle with less than two miles to go. “I was born for drama,” she joked to The Guardian after the race. Elsewhere, legendary runner Mo Farah finished ninth with 2:10:28, confirming later that he plans to bring his career to a close later this year.
