FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on 24 September:
Eliud Kipchoge will run the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
The best marathon runner of all time is returning to run the BMW
BERLIN-MARATHON: Eliud Kipchoge has reached agreement with the organizers
to compete in Germany's most spectacular road race. The 38-year-old Kenyan
superstar will be running the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON for the sixth time. The
double Olympic Marathon champion from his triumphs in 2016 and 2021 has
already set two world records on this fast course, running 2:01:39 in 2018
and performing even faster last year to take exactly half a minute off that
time with 2:01:09.
Both of last year's winners will be on the start line to defend their
titles on September 24. The Ethiopian Tigist Assefa, who improved the
women's course record with a sensational course record of 2:15:37, will
also return to the Berlin race which forms part of the Abbott World
Marathon Majors Series.
A year before the Olympic Games in Paris, where Eliud Kipchoge would so
dearly love to become the first runner in history to win three Olympic
Marathon gold medals, this exceptional athlete will be concentrating on
re-establishing his pedigree in Berlin. His previously seeming
infallibility has faltered as he suffered a rare loss of form in finishing
sixth in the Boston Marathon with 2:09:23 in April, his slowest ever
marathon in 20 outings. This was in stark contrast to 2019 when he broke
the two-hour barrier for the distance in Vienna with 1:59:40.2, though the
event did not conform to competition standards to count as a world record.
"On my road to the Paris Olympic Games, I like to go back to Berlin
Marathon, since to me this is the perfect preparation. I have great
memories there and I look forward to run the streets of Berlin again,
together with the thousands of runners that will join," said Eliud
Kipchoge. Victory in Berlin this year would make him the undisputed record
winner of the men's title. At present he is tied with another running
legend, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, with four wins apiece.
Among his rivals will be Eliud Kipchoge's Kenyan compatriot Amos Kipruto.
The latter won the London Marathon last year and possesses a high-quality
personal best of 2:03:13. Kipruto has already competed against him
previously in Berlin, finishing second in Kipchoge's world record run with
2:06:23 in 2018.
Tigist Assefa also made headlines a year ago in the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
when the Ethiopian improved her personal best by a staggering margin of
almost 20 minutes, taking it down from 2:34:01 to 2:15:37. This performance
took Assefa to third fastest on the all-time list for the women's marathon
at that time. Her priority on the fast Berlin course will be to produce
another performance of undeniably world class quality and ensure
qualification for the Olympic Marathon in Paris in 2024.
In Sheila Chepkirui she will face a leading contender and one of the fast
rising stars among Kenya's marathon women. She finished in London this
spring in an outstanding fourth place among a field of great quality,
running a personal best of 2:18:51. Chepkirui should have fond memories of
Berlin, having won the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON despite freezing
temperatures in a course record of 65:02 in 2022. She will have to raise
her game still further, however, if she is to win a place among the three
Kenyan women to be selected for the Olympic Marathon.
More information is available online at: www.berlin-marathon.com
###
MarathonGuide.com makes no representations as to the accuracy of information on this site or its suitability for any use. | privacy policy | refund policy