Kiplimo, Feysa produce dominant wins in Chicago Marathon
Athletics - World Cross Country Championships - Mount Panorama, Bathurst, Australia - February 18, 2023 Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo reacts after winning the senior race men final REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo dominated the men's field in the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, breaking the tape in two hours, two minutes and 23 seconds in his second race over the distance, while Ethiopian Hawi Feysa enjoyed a lopsided win in the women's race.
The half-marathon world record holder Kiplimo crossed the finish line one minute and 31 seconds ahead of Amos Kipruto of Kenya, while Kenyan Alex Masai was third in 2:04:37.
Kiplimo, who finished second in his marathon debut in London this year, broke away by the 30-kilometre mark and had built a nearly one-minute cushion with five miles to go.
He peeked over his shoulder a few times during the last mile of the race but had nothing to worry about as he jogged through the final straight all by himself and sat down in sheer exhaustion a few metres after the finish.
"To come here to win the race is a big achievement for me," he said after the race, telling a TV reporter he was hungry to go even faster.
Feysa, who finished third on the podium in Tokyo, appeared emotional through the final mile and fell to her knees after crossing the line in 2:14:56, while her compatriot Megertu Alemu was second in 2:17:18.
Tanzanian Magdalena Shauri took third in 2:18:03.
Feysa ran the last five miles of the race on her own, thriving in Chicago's pristine, sunny conditions to shave more than two minutes off her personal best.
"Winning here, it's been amazing," she said via a translator. "I worked really hard, trained really hard to have this victory."
SPEEDY COURSE
The famously flat course is notorious for producing speedy times, with the late Kelvin Kiptum breaking the men's record in 2:00:35 in 2023 and his fellow Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich breaking the women's mark in 2:09:56 in 2024.
Chepngetich was provisionally suspended in July for the presence and use of a prohibited substance.
While there were no world records this time, Conner Mantz gave the home fans a thrill as he broke Khalid Khannouchi's 23-year-old U.S. record, finishing fourth overall in 2:04:43.
Khannouchi set the previous U.S. mark of 2:05:38 in London.
Switzerland's Marcel Hug obliterated the men's wheelchair race in 1:23:20, finishing more than four minutes ahead of Britain's David Weir, while American Susannah Scaroni won on the women's side in 1:38:14, besting Swiss rival Manuela Schar by 49 seconds.
