Kenyan athlete Kelvin Kiptum has set a world record in the Chicago Marathon, becoming the first person in human history to run the 26.2-mile distance in under 2 hours and 1 minute, World Athletics, the international governing body for the discipline, said on Sunday.
"Kenya's Kelvin Kiptum destroys the marathon world record at the Chicago Marathon with 2:00:35," the organization said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Less than six months after his 2:01:25 victory at the London Marathon, which made him the second-fastest marathon runner in history, Kiptum shaved another 50 seconds off his time and broke the world record of 2:01:09, set by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin last year.
"A world record was not in my mind today," Kiptum told media, adding: "I knew one day I will be a world record holder."
At the 2023 Chicago Marathon on October 8, he set a new marathon world record, subject to ratification by World Athletics, by winning the race by nearly three and a half minutes. Benson Kipruto was second in 2:04:02 and Bashir Abdi was third in 2:04:32.
Kiptum, 23, achieved the fastest ever marathon debut at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, becoming the third man in history to run a marathon in less than two hours and two minutes. Later, he won the 2023 London Marathon in the second-fastest recorded time in history.