Not one of the majors, marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum will compete in the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14, 2024.
After setting a record at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, Kiptum is expected to choose the 2024 London Marathon on April 21 to compete and wait to be selected for the Kenyan athletics team to compete in the Paris Olympics in August. Another option is for the 23-year-old runner to return to Berlin on September 29 with the ambition to become a sub2 - marathon under 2 hours.
But over the weekend, fellow Dutch media reported that Kiptum would compete in the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14. The Rotterdam Marathon’s social media accounts also posted a message confirming that the new world record holder would compete next year.
Announcement from the Rotterdam Marathon organizers that Kiptum will compete in this tournament in 2024. Photo: Rotterdam Marathon
Canadian Running Magazine rated Rotterdam as a suitable choice for Kiptum, even though it is not part of the world's largest annual running system - World Marathon Majors, instead of defending the title in London.
Rotterdam takes place a week before London, giving Kenyan runners 16 weeks - considered ideal - to recover and train for Paris 2024. If he chooses to defend his London Marathon title, Kiptum will only have 15 weeks of preparation with a shorter time frame.
The Rotterdam Marathon, which started in 1983, is also a prestigious race, with a flat course and a total elevation gain of 100m, compared to London’s 145m. Kiptum’s manager, Marc Corstjens, is also responsible for assembling the elite for Rotterdam – which will attract top talent aiming to meet the men’s Olympic standard of 2:08:10.
The current Rotterdam Marathon record is held by Belgian Bashir Abdi, who clocked 2 hours 3 minutes 36 seconds in 2021, just three months before he won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. Kiptum's ambition is to break Abdi's mark and, eventually, the 2-hour barrier.
In the past 12 months, Kiptum has gone from unknown to holding three of the top six marathon times in history, in just three attempts at the distance.
Kiptum finished first in the Chicago Marathon and set a new world record of 2 hours 0 minutes 35 seconds on October 8. Photo: AFP
At the 2022 Valencia Marathon - his first 42.195km run - Kiptum won in 2 hours 1 minute 53 seconds, becoming the fastest debut runner in history for this distance. Five months later, he improved his PB (personal best) to win the 2023 London Marathon in 2 hours 1 minute 25 seconds, setting a new race record.
At the Chicago Marathon 2023 on October 8, Kiptum continued to make history when he won with a time of 2 hours 0 minutes 35 seconds, thereby setting a new world record, 34 seconds faster than the old milestone of the legendary senior Eliud Kipchoge - 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds set at Berlin 2022. This is the first time the men's world record has been broken by more than 30 seconds since the approval of parameters began 20 years ago.
With the world marathon record, Kiptum is expected to break Kipchoge's dominance at Paris 2024. Kipchoge won gold medals in the last two Olympics, with 2 hours 8 minutes 38 seconds at Tokyo 2020, and 2 hours 8 minutes 44 seconds at Rio 2016. In addition to competing for gold, the Kenyan duo could break the Olympic record of 2 hours 6 minutes 32 seconds set by another Kenyan, Samuel Wanjiru, at Beijing 2008.
Hong Duy
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