Eliud Kipchoge and Jemima Sumgong gave a timely boost to the tarnished reputation of Kenyan athletics on Sunday with courageous wins in the men’s and women’s London Marathons.
Kipchoge set a new course record for the men in winning the full-distance London race for the second straight year.
The 31-year-old former track star clocked an official time of 2hrs 03mins 04secs, the second fastest run in history over the distance, just seven seconds shy of the world record set by fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto at the Berlin Marathon in September 2014.
Kipchoge broke clear of another Kenyan, Stanley Biwott, with about three kilometres to go and sprinted home well ahead of Biwott with track legend Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia in third.
Earlier Kenya’s Sumgong survived a bad fall late in the race to win the women’s London Marathon for the first time.
Sumgong banged the side of her head off the road when three runners went down after tripping each other up at a drinks station, but she rejoined the leaders and eventually outpaced last year’s winner, Tigist Tufa of Ethiopia, over the last mile.
It was the Kenyan’s first major marathon victory since Rotterdam three years ago and followed runner-up finishes in Boston, Chicago and New York.