Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich made history on Sunday by breaking the women’s marathon world record at the Chicago Marathon. The 30-year-old clocked an incredible time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 57 seconds, surpassing the previous record set by Ethiopian Tigst Assefa by nearly two minutes.
Chepngetich’s achievement makes her the first woman ever to complete a marathon in under 2 hours and 10 minutes. Assefa had set the previous record of 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds just weeks earlier at the 2023 Berlin Marathon.
Expressing her joy after the race, Chepngetich, the 2019 world marathon champion, said, “I feel so great, I’m proud of myself. This is my dream that has come true. I’ve fought a lot thinking about the world record, and I have fulfilled it.”
The victory marks Chepngetich’s third win in Chicago, where she narrowly missed breaking compatriot Brigid Kosgei’s world record by just 14 seconds in 2022. The flat Chicago course has become famous for producing fast marathon times, with four of the five fastest women’s marathon records being set there over the last six years.
