FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Reigning Champions Rita Jeptoo and Tatyana McFadden Headline the
2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon Elite Athlete Field
CHICAGO - The Bank of America Chicago Marathon today announced that
defending champions Rita Jeptoo and Tatyana McFadden, fresh off of World
Marathon Majors (WMM) victories in Boston, will return to Chicago to chase
consecutive titles.
"Rita Jeptoo and Tatyana McFadden are among two of the fastest and most
exciting athletes competing in the world today," said Bank of America
Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski. "They know how to
close a race with the kind of finishing speed that really makes them stand
out. To have them come back to defend their titles sets the stage for
another year of sensational racing in Chicago."
Kenya's Jeptoo ran her first career sub-2:20 marathon in Chicago last year
with a time of 2:19:57, the fastest women's marathon time of 2013.
Continuing strong, she opened her 2014 marathon campaign in Boston with a
forceful 2:18:57, smashing the previous course record by almost two minutes
and setting a new personal best.
Jeptoo arrives in Chicago with the potential to rewrite the record books by
becoming the third woman in history to run three sub-2:20 marathons. The
running world has not witnessed this feat in more than a decade since
former Chicago champions and World Record holders Catherine Ndereba (KEN)
and Paula Radcliffe (GBR) traded course and world records in London and
Chicago.
Jeptoo's Chicago history includes her 2012 stride-for-stride sprint finish
down Columbus Ave., succumbing to Atsede Baysa (ETH) by a step, running
2:22:04 to Baysa's 2:22:03. Jeptoo redeemed herself by winning the 2013
Boston Marathon the following April and returned to Chicago last fall with
a renewed strength and determination. With her electrifying speed, she
emerged as the first Kenyan to take home a Chicago victory since Ndereba in
2001. Jeptoo currently stands atop the WMM leaderboard, coming off an
impressive performance in Boston where she outraced one of the best women's
fields ever assembled in the race's illustrious history.
McFadden, a U.S. 10-time Summer Paralympic track and field medalist,
returns to capture her fourth consecutive wheelchair Chicago Marathon
victory and her fifth in the last six years. McFadden shattered Chicago's
long-standing course record in 2013 after a blistering sprint finish where
she defeated Manuela Schaer by two seconds. McFadden's 1:42:35 took down
the previous mark set in 1992.
Her 10 WMM victories in just six years of elite marathon racing highlight
her world-class dominance among a competitive field of elite women. She is
the only athlete ever to win four WMM (Boston, London, Chicago and New
York) in the same year.
Like Jeptoo, McFadden holds a convincing edge over her competitors. Hailing
from the University of Illinois, home to the most storied wheelchair track
and field program in the U.S., McFadden, a four-time Paralympian, made her
marathon debut in Chicago in 2009, outsprinting her more seasoned
competitors in one of the closest women's wheelchair races in Chicago
Marathon history.
McFadden, who grew up in Clarksville, Md., grabbed consecutive titles in
London and Boston over an eight-day span in April, just 32 days after
winning a silver medal in cross-country skiing at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic
Winter Games. In her wake, she has taken down course records in London
(breaking her own course record in 2014) and Chicago, narrowly missing
Boston's course record this year - on her 25th birthday - by 60 seconds
while setting a personal best by more than seven minutes (1:35:06).
About the Bank of America Chicago Marathon
In its 37th year and a member of the World Marathon Majors, the Bank of
America Chicago Marathon annually attracts 45,000 participants, including a
world-class elite runner and wheelchair athlete field, and an estimated 1.7
million spectators. As a result of its national and international draw, the
iconic race assists in raising millions of dollars for a variety of
charitable causes while generating $243 million in annual economic impact
to its host city. The 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will start and
finish in Grant Park beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 12, 2014. In
advance of the race, a two-day Health & Fitness Expo will be held at
McCormick Place Convention Center on Friday, October 10, and Saturday,
October 11. For more information about the event and how to get involved,
go to chicagomarathon.com.
chicagomarathon.com
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