Ruth Chepngetich has become the first woman to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours and 10 minutes after winning the Chicago Marathon.
The 30-year-old Kenyan athlete’s race time of 2:09:56 broke the women’s world record by almost two minutes.
Fellow Kenyan John Korir won the men’s marathon in a time of 2:02:44.
The previous women’s record, 2:11:53, was set by Ethiopian runner Tigst Assefa last year.
Ruth Chepngetich
Chepngetich also won the Chicago Marathon in 2021 and 2022.
She called this year’s record-breaking effort a “dream come true,” saying, “I feel so great, I’m proud of myself”.
Chepngetich dedicated her win to Kelvin Kiptum, who set the men’s world record in Chicago last year. Kiptum was killed in a car accident earlier this year. He was 24-years-old.
“The world record has come back to Kenya,” Chepngetich said.