Benson Kipruto breaks course record at Tokyo Marathon; Kipchoge takes 10th place
Ethiopia's Sutume Kebede captured the course record on the women's side in 2:15:55
Photo by:
Kevin Morris
Kenya’s Benson Kipruto can claim fifth place on the marathon all-time list after a 2:02:16 performance at Sunday’s Tokyo Marathon, besting two-time Olympic champ Eliud Kipchoge‘s 2022 course record of 2:02:40.Course records fell on the women’s side as well, with Sutume Kebede of Ethiopia clocking 2:15:55 to put her at eighth on the all-time list. Both Kipruto and Kebede have now run the fastest men’s and women’s marathons on Japanese soil.
Fans were excited to see Kipchoge and Dutch distance star Sifan Hassan tackle their first marathon of 2024, but both fell short of expectations, with Kipchoge finishing 10th in 2:06:50, and Hassan taking fourth in 2:18:05.
Course records fall in Tokyo 🗼
🇰🇪's Benson Kipruto moves up to 5th on the marathon all time-list with 2:02:16 👏
🇪🇹's Sutume Kebede clocks 2:15:55, which puts her in 8th place on the all-time list. pic.twitter.com/H8ZJIqsor9
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) March 3, 2024
Men’s race
Kipchoge set a heated pace from the start, leading a men’s front pack that included Kipruto and compatriots Timothy Kiplagat and Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich (Kiplagat and Ngetich would finish second and third, in 2:02:55 and 2:04:18). The group set out at world-record pace, but slowed by 15K; by 20K Kipchoge had began to fall back, hitting the 25K mark a minute behind the leaders.
Kipruto battled Kiplagat, who finished second with a time of 2:02:55, for much of the race—the two athletes were neck-and-neck, with Kipruto taking a definitive lead only after 35K. Kipruto won the Boston Marathon in 2021 (2:09:51) and the 2022 Chicago Marathon (2:04:24) and has consistently performed well in marathons, finishing no lower than third in his last seven races. (He also won the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2018.)
Kipchoge, 39, experienced only his fourth defeat in 22 career marathons. “That’s how it is—not every day is Christmas Day,” he told Nippon TV post-race. The first Japanese runner to finish was Yusuke Nishiyama in 2:06.31 and ninth place. As Nishiyama was short of the Olympic qualification benchmark established by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, Suguru Osako, a two-time Olympian and national record holder over 3,000m and 5,000m, will take the third and final Japanese slot for the men’s marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Top 10 men
1. Benson Kipruto (KEN) 2:02:16
2. Timothy Kiplagat (KEN) 2:02:55
3. Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich (KEN) 2:04:18
4. Hailemaryam Kiros (ETH) 2:05:43
5. Tsegaye Getachew (ETH) 2:06:25
6. Bethwel Kibet (KEN) 2:06:26
7. Haimro Alame (ISR) 2:06:27
8. Simon Kariuki (KEN) 2:06:29
9. Yusuke Nishiyama (JPN) 2:06:31
10. Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) 2:06:50
Women’s race
The Tokyo Marathon also witnessed Ethiopia’s Kebede securing a solid victory in the women’s race, with a new course record of 2:15:55 that bested Brigid Kosgei‘s mark of 2:16:02, set in 2022. Kebede was followed by the defending champion, Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru, in 2:16:14, and the current marathon world champ, Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso, in 2:16:58.
Kebede, Wanjiru and Beriso, followed by Hassan, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel, American Betsy Saina and Buzunesh Getachew set the pace in a lead group, clocking 48:38 at the 15K mark. At the 20K mark, Hassan was four seconds behind leader Wanjiru, but holding a consistent pace; by the 30K mark she had fallen back substantially. While this is Hassan’s first loss in three marathons (she won the London Marathon and the Chicago Marathon in 2023), her finishing time in Tokyo was still faster than her winning time of 2:18:33 in London. Kebede took the lead near the end of the race and charged to the finish.
American runner Betsy Saina was fifth in 2:19:17, the third fastest marathon in U.S. women’s history behind the last two American records run by Emily Sisson (2:18:29) and Keira D’Amato (2:19:12). Saina was a pre-race favorite at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Feb. 3, but was a DNF. The first Japanese woman was Hitomi Niiya, in 2:21:50 and sixth place.
Canada’s Andrea Seccafien, in her marathon debut, had hoped to hit the Olympic marathon standard of 2:26:50, but dropped out mid-race.
Top 10 women
1. Sutume Kebede (ETH) 2:15:55
2. Rosemary Wanjiru (KEN) 2:16:14
3. Amane Beriso (ETH) 2:16:58
4. Sifan Hassan (NED) 2:18:05
5. Betsy Saina (USA) 2:19:17
6. Hitomi Niiya (JPN) 2:21:50
7. Meseret Abebayahau (ETH) 2:23:08
8. Khishigsakihan Galbadrakh (MGL) 2:26:32
9. Tigist Abayechew (ETH) 2:28:53
10. Ayumi Morita (JPN) 2:31:38
For full results of the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, head here.
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
