Kiplimo and Feysa return to defend Chicago titles

Jacob Kiplimo and Hawi Feysa will return to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon to defend their titles against deep international fields at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on Sunday (11).

Kiplimo heads back to Chicago having significantly improved his marathon credentials since winning there 12 months ago, while Feysa faces a women’s field that includes former world record-holder Brigid Kosgei and two-time Boston champion Sharon Lokedi.

Kiplimo won in Chicago last year in 2:02:23, finishing more than a minute ahead of Kenya’s Amos Kipruto in what was just the Ugandan’s second race over the distance.

He has since enjoyed a remarkable 2026. After claiming his third consecutive title at the World Cross Country Championships, he broke the world half marathon record with 57:20 in Lisbon – a mark that has since been improved – and then produced another breakthrough over 26.2 miles.

At April’s London Marathon, Kiplimo finished third in 2:00:28 as Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha became the first two men to officially break two hours for the distance. Kiplimo’s time put him third on the world all-time list and improved his own Ugandan record by almost two minutes.

It is also seven seconds faster than the Chicago course record of 2:00:35 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in 2023.

“My preparation has given me a lot of confidence, and having raced this course before is a real advantage,” said Kiplimo.

He will renew his rivalry with Kipruto, who followed him home in Chicago last year and then finished one place behind him in London in April. The 2022 London champion clocked a PB of 2:01:39 on that occasion, making him the second-fastest man in a field that includes six sub-2:04 performers.

Milkesa Mengesha, the 2024 Berlin Marathon champion, returns to the USA after finishing 10th in Boston in April. The Ethiopian has a best of 2:03:17. His compatriot Tadese Takele retained his Tokyo Marathon title in March in 2:03:37. Kenya’s Daniel Mateiko was fourth in that race in a PB of 2:03:44 and will also line up in Chicago.

Another Ethiopian, Asrar Hiyrden, completes the group of sub-2:04 entrants. He ran 2:03:59 in Seville in February.

Several athletes just outside that group will be looking to make another step forward. USA’s Charles Hicks ran 2:04:35 to finish seventh at the Boston Marathon in April, while Suguru Osako holds the Japanese record of 2:04:55.

Hicks is part of a strong US contingent that also includes Clayton Young, who ran 2:05:41 in Boston, 2017 Chicago champion Galen Rupp and Vincent Mauri, whose 2:05:54 victory in Toledo earlier this year marked a major breakthrough.

South Africa’s Adriaan Wildschutt, Japan’s Tomoki Ota and Thailand’s Kieran Tuntivate – all of whom hold national records at other distances – are among the athletes making their marathon debuts.

While Feysa is the defending women’s champion, Kosgei has perhaps the strongest historical connection with the Chicago course.

The Kenyan won there in 2018 before returning the following year to clock 2:14:04, taking 81 seconds off Paula Radcliffe’s long-standing world record. She has not raced in Chicago since that performance.

Now 32, Kosgei has returned to some of her best form this year. She won the Tokyo Marathon in March in 2:14:29 – the second-fastest time of her career and an Asian all-comers’ record.

Feysa was third in that race in 2:17:39, having enjoyed the biggest victory of her career in Chicago five months earlier. The Ethiopian pulled away from the field to win the 2025 race in 2:14:57, more than two minutes ahead of compatriot Megertu Alemu.

Alemu returns this year, as does Sutume Kebede, whose 2:15:55 PB makes her the third-fastest woman in the field. Both raced in Tokyo earlier this year, where Kebede and Alemu finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Lokedi, meanwhile, will race in Chicago for the first time. The Kenyan has established herself as one of the world’s leading championship-style marathon racers, having won the New York Marathon in 2022 before taking back-to-back Boston titles in 2025 and 2026.

She retained her Boston crown in April in 2:18:51, with two more Chicago entrants – Loice Chemnung and Mary Ngugi-Cooper – completing the podium. Chicago will provide Lokedi with her first opportunity to race one of the flatter, faster courses on the major marathon circuit.

Brillian Kipkoech is another Kenyan arriving on the back of a victory. She improved her PB to 2:17:05 to win in Hamburg in April and is one of seven women in the field with a best inside 2:18. Degitu Azimeraw, the 2021 London runner-up, is another member of that group. Chemnung, Joan Kilimo, Magdalyne Masai, Fantu Worku and Ngugi-Cooper have all broken 2:20.

Kilimo, just 22, achieved her 2:18:40 best when finishing runner-up in Barcelona in March, while Worku ran 2:19:08 for third in Dubai at the start of February.

The home challenge includes Susanna Sullivan, Natosha Rogers, Sara Hall and Dakotah Popehn. Emma Grace Hurley, meanwhile, is among the intriguing debutantes. She returns to Chicago having set a US 8km record at the Shamrock Shuffle earlier this year, while Mexico’s Laura Galvan and Great Britain’s Amy-Eloise Neale will also contest their first marathons.

Leading entrants

Women
Brigid Kosgei (KEN) 2:14:04
Hawi Feysa (ETH) 2:14:57
Sutume Kebede (ETH) 2:15:55
Megertu Alemu (ETH) 2:16:34
Brillian Kipkoech (KEN) 2:17:05
Sharon Lokedi (KEN) 2:17:22
Degitu Azimeraw (ETH) 2:17:58
Loice Chemnung (KEN) 2:18:24
Joan Kilimo (KEN) 2:18:40
Magdalyne Masai (KEN) 2:18:58
Fantu Worku (ETH) 2:19:08
Mary Ngugi-Cooper (KEN) 2:19:26
Sara Hall (USA) 2:20:32
Yuka Akasaki (JPN) 2:21:33
Susanna Sullivan (USA) 2:21:56
Des Linden (USA) 2:22:38
Isobel Batt-Doyle (AUS) 2:22:59
Natosha Rogers (USA) 2:23:28
Dakotah Popehn (USA) 2:24:20
Jess Warner-Judd (GBR) 2:24:45
Laura Galvan (MEX) debut
Emma Grace Hurley (USA) debut
Amy-Eloise Neale (GBR) debut

Men
Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) 2:00:28
Amos Kipruto (KEN) 2:01:39
Milkesa Mengesha (ETH) 2:03:17
Tadese Takele (ETH) 2:03:23
Daniel Mateiko (KEN) 2:03:44
Asrar Hiyrden (ETH) 2:03:59
Charles Hicks (USA) 2:04:35
Suguru Osako (JPN) 2:04:55
Mohamed Reda El Aaraby (MAR) 2:05:18
Clayton Young (USA) 2:05:41
Sondre Moen (NOR) 2:05:48
Vincent Mauri (USA) 2:05:54
Yemane Haileselassie (ERI) 2:06:06
Galen Rupp (USA) 2:06:07
Akira Akasaki (JPN) 2:06:15
Boki Diriba (ETH) 2:06:26
Hendrik Pfeiffer (GER) 2:06:34
Rory Linkletter (CAN) 2:06:49
Abbabiya Simbassa (USA) 2:06:53
Tomoki Ota (JPN) debut
Kieran Tuntivate (THA) debut
Adriaan Wildschutt (RSA) debut