Kenyan marathon star, Eliud Kipchoge made history on Saturday by becoming the first athlete to run a marathon in less than two hours, although the feat will not count as a world record, the world athletics body said.
Kipchoge, 34, covered the 26.2 miles (42.2km) in one hour 59 minutes 40 seconds in the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria on Saturday.
“I am feeling good,” Kipchoge said minutes after completing the run. It will not be recognised as the official marathon world record because it was not in open competition and he used a team of rotating pacemakers.
“I’m happy to be the man to run under two hours. This shows no-one is limited, “Now I’ve done it, I am expecting more people to do it after me,” said Kipchoge.
“It has taken 65 years for a human to make history in sport. After Roger Bannister, it took another 65 years,” he added. The Olympic champion – who holds the official marathon world record of 2:01:39, set in Berlin, Germany in 2018 – missed out by 25 seconds in a previous attempt at the Italian Grand Prix circuit at Monza in 2017.
Knowing he was about to make history on the home straight, the pacemakers dropped back to let Kipchoge sprint over the line alone, roared on by a large crowd in the Austrian capital.
The four-time London Marathon winner embraced his wife Grace, grabbed a Kenyan flag and was mobbed by his pacemakers, including many of the world’s best middle and long-distance runners.
