Kelvin Kiptum
As the World Athletics Awards 2023 draws near, we’re shining a spotlight on the 10 finalists – five men and five women – for the World Athlete of the Year awards.
Today the focus is on Kenyan marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum.
This time last year, Kelvin Kiptum was a couple of weeks away from making his marathon debut. He has since achieved three of the six fastest times in history, capped by the remarkable world record of 2:00:35 he set when winning the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on 8 October.
It was in Valencia last December that Kiptum’s marathon journey began. There, the Kenyan distance running star – who turned 23 two days before that race – ran 2:01:53 for the fastest ever marathon debut and a mark that placed him third on the world all-time list behind only his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.
It set the tone for an incredible year ahead.
Kiptum returned to training, with the TCS London Marathon his next target. Lining up for the second marathon – and the second World Athletics Platinum Label road race – of his career on 23 April, he was just a couple of hours away from making history again.
While he later explained that the world record had not been on his mind, he was clearly a man on a mission and he ended up winning in a course record of 2:01:25 – a performance that elevated him another place on the world all-time list, to second behind the world record of 2:01:09 set by Kipchoge in Berlin in September 2022.
Kiptum’s run included a 5km split of 13:49 between 30km and 35km and a 4:23 24th mile, helping him to win the race by almost three minutes and miss Kipchoge’s world record by just 16 seconds.
“My plan was to run maybe 2:03 or 2:02, but I was not thinking about the world record,” Kiptum said later. “I was just focused on running a good time. I’ll go back home, have a little rest and talk with my team. Maybe then we will think of the world record.”
Those thoughts turned into reality in Chicago.
After passing half way in 1:00:48, Kiptum ran another blistering 30-35km split of 13:51 and was on sub-2:01 pace. He picked up the tempo yet again and reached the finish line in 2:00:35, becoming the first athlete to break 2:01 in a record-eligible marathon and securing his second major marathon win of the year.
He won the race by almost three and a half minutes. The result was an improvement of 50 seconds on Kiptum’s previous best and it took 34 seconds off Kipchoge’s world record.
“I knew I was coming for a course record, but a world record – I am so happy,” he said.
Could there be more in store? Kiptum has already voiced his intention to attack his record – and the two-hour barrier – at the NN Rotterdam Marathon in April.
“I’ll try at least to beat my world record here,” he said. “I know I’m capable of doing that, if my preparation works out well and the conditions are OK. And in that case, I will get close to the two-hour barrier, so why not aim to break it?
“That might look ambitious, but I’m not afraid of setting this kind of goals. There’s no limit to human energy.”
• The World Athletes of the Year will be announced on World Athletics’ social media platforms on 11 December as part of the World Athletics Awards 2023 – and you and a friend can be part of the celebrations.
One lucky person and a companion will win a once-in-a-lifetime VIP trip to Monaco during the annual World Athletics Awards.
The winners of the fan VIP trip will get to spend three nights (9-11 December) in Monaco and meet the best athletes of 2023 in person. Flights, accommodation and evening meals will all be included.
