Jemima Sumgong wins despite heavy fall, Eliud Kipchoge misses WR at London Marathon
A pair of Kenyans won the London Marathon on Sunday morning including Jemima Sumgong who had a heavy fall at the 35K mark.
The London Marathon lived up to the pre-race hype on Sunday morning as the men’s world record was in jeopardy through 30K and the winner of the women’s race rebounded from a hard fall. The London Marathon is one of the world’s largest road races, with almost 40,000 runners, and is a world marathon major
RELATED: An emotional Rob Watson calls Sunday’s London Marathon the “end of this chapter.”
Kenya’s Jemima Sumgong beat a stacked women’s field in 2:22:58 despite experiencing a fall midway through the race and on a separate occasion avoided an intruder who made his way onto the course. Both incidents failed to faze Sumgong as she beat defending champion and the Ottawa Marathon course record holder Tigist Tufa by five seconds.
Sumgong, a runner-up in Boston, Chicago and New York City, fell around the 35K mark of the race as the pack of seven women got bunched. Three of the seven athletes fell but were able to recover. Sumgong hit her head on the pavement.
Video of the fall can be found below:
Jemima Sumgong KEN wins #LondonMarathon in 2:22:58
Incredible recovery after big fall (see her rubbing her head ?) pic.twitter.com/iULSusLpLn
— SPIKES (@spikesmag) April 24, 2016
In the men’s race, the marathon world record (2:02:57) looked to be in jeopardy as two Kenyans passed the 35K mark just outside of record pace. Eventual winner Eliud Kipchoge and second-place finisher Stanley Biwott set new world 30K records in the process.
Eliud Kipchoge, 31, ran 2:03:05, the second fastest legal time ever, to win his second consecutive London Marathon title. The time broke the previous course record (2:04:29). Dennis Kimetto, who owns the world record, finished ninth.
Kipchoge said after the race that he was happy with the course record despite appearing disappointed the moment he crossed the finish line as he realized he was close to the world record. See his reaction at the finish line below:
Eliud Kipchoge sets new course record.https://t.co/xOEXPP3DMi
— BBC Get Inspired (@bbcgetinspired) April 24, 2016
World 5,000m and 10,000m record holder Kenenisa Bekele, arguably the best long-distance track athlete ever, finished third in 2:06:36. Prior to Sunday’s London Marathon, he had not finished a race since 2014. The world marathon champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (no relation to Haile) was fourth.
Top-10 results
Men
1. Kipchoge, Eliud (KEN) 2:03:05
2. Biwott, Stanley (KEN) 2:03:51
3. Bekele, Kenenisa (ETH) 2:06:36
4. Ghebreslassie, Ghirmay (ERI) 2:07:46
5. Kipsang, Wilson (KEN) 2:07:52
6. Regassa, Tilahun (ETH) 2:09:47
7. Lemma, Sisay (ETH) 2:10:45
8. Hawkins, Callum (GBR) 2:10:52
9. Kimetto, Dennis (KEN) 2:11:44
10. Kibrom, Ghebre (ERI) 2:11:56
21. Watson, Rob (CAN) 2:18:45
Women
1. Sumgong, Jemima (KEN) 2:22:58
2. Tufa, Tigist (ETH) 2:23:03
3. Kiplagat, Florence (KEN) 2:23:39
4. Mazuronak, Volha (BLR) 2:23:54
5. Mergia, Aselefech (ETH) 2:23:57
6. Dibaba, Mare (ETH) 2:24:09
7. Tadese, Feyse (ETH) 2:25:03
8. Jeptoo, Priscah (KEN) 2:27:27
9. Keitany, Mary (KEN) 2:28:30
10. Augusto, Jessica (POR) 2:28:53
12. Hall, Sara (USA) 2:30:06
One notable result on the women’s side was Belarus’ Volha Mazuronak, who finished fourth, and ran a near-perfect race in terms of pacing. Her final 2.2K was faster than the winner’s split over the same distance.
#LondonMarathon 5K’s for Volha Mazuronak (BLR):
17:16
17:33
17:21
17:26
16:51
16:46
16:47
16:46
(7:08 last 2.195k; Winner Sumgong = 7:17)— David Monti (@d9monti) April 24, 2016
American Sara Hall, the wife of Ryan Hall, finished 12th in 2:30:06.
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