Kenyan Wilson Kipsang broke the marathon world record by 15 seconds as he claimed the Berlin title on Sunday.
The 31-year-old clocked a time of two hours three minutes 23 seconds to better the previous mark set by compatriot Patrick Makau two years ago. That was also in the German capital, when Makau ran 2:03:38.
Fellow Kenyans Eliud Kipchoge (2:04:05) and Geoffrey Kipsang (2:06:26) finished second and third respectively in this year’s marathon.
Makau was not competing in the event after withdrawing two weeks ago with a knee injury.
Having trained specifically for breaking the world record in Berlin, Wilson Kipsang took control of the race in the final 10km, breaking away from the leading pack as the tempo dropped.
“I’m very happy that I have won and broken the world record,” Kipsang said. “I was really inspired by [fellow Kenyan] Paul Tergat when he broke the world record here 10 years ago and I’m very happy that I was in a position to break the record on the same course.”
His victory takes his total marathon wins to seven since competing in his first in Paris three years ago. Kipsang won the London marathon last year and also claimed bronze in the marathon at last year’s Olympic Games. The Berlin win was his first marathon victory this year. Despite being among the favourites, he only managed to finish fifth in the London event in April.
Kipsang age 31 was born in Kenya. He first ran 10,000m in his native Kenya in 2007, before competing in 10km and 15km races. He has also ran several half marathons over the course of two years from 2008 before competing in his first marathon in 2010, finishing third in Paris. His first victory came in Frankfurt later that year and he has gone on to win a further six marathons. He competed in his first Olympics in London last year, where he finished third.
