Peres Jepchirchir won the London Marathon in a women’s only record time of 2:16:13, while fellow Kenyan Alexander Mutiso Munyao won the men’s race in 2:04:00.
Jepchirchir, 30, finished narrowly ahead of Ethiapian Tigst Assefa (2:16:23) in second and Joyciline Jepkosgei (2:16:24), also of Kenya, in third.
All three racers’ time bettered the previous women’s only record of 2:17:01 set by Mary Keitany at London in 2017.
Assefa’s time of 2:11:53, set in a mixed gender race at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, remains the standard women’s world record.
Munyao, 27, finished ahead of 41-year-old three-time Olympic long distance champion Kenenisa Bekele (2:04:14) in second and Briton Emile Cairess, who finished third with a personal best of 2:06:46.
Men’s champion Munyao (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
Ahead of the race, tributes were paid to 2023 men’s champion and course record holder Kelvin Kiptum following his death in February at the age of 24. The world record holder, who became the first man to run under 2:01 in a record-eligible marathon in Chicago last October, died in a car accident in his native Kenya.
Women’s champion Jepchirchir finished third at London last year and Sunday’s victory is her third major marathon win, after finishing first in New York in 2021 and Boston in 2022. She also won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Munyao’s win was his first in London and marked the first major marathon win of his career.
Marcel Hug wins men’s wheelchair race
Victory for Swiss pair Hug and Debrunner in the men’s and women’s wheelchair races (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men’s wheelchair race for a fifth time, crossing the finishing line in 1:28:35.
The victory came a week after the 38-year-old broke his own record en route to winning the Boston Marathon.
It marked a fourth successive win in London for Hug, a six-time Paralympic gold medalist, who finished 29 seconds clear of the rest of the field.
He had set a course record in each of his last three victories in London, but was over four minutes short of his 1:23:44 record posted last year.
American Daniel Romanchuk (1:29:06) was second and Briton David Weir (1:29:58), in his 25th successive London Marathon appearance, completed the top three.
Catherine Debrunner wins women’s wheelchair race
Fellow Swiss racer Catherine Debrunner won the women’s wheelchair race in a time of 1:38:54.
The win was the 29-year-old’s second in London, having set a course record of 1:38:24 in 2022, and her time was the second fastest in course history.
Debrunner finished a comfortable six minutes ahead of compatriot and three-time champion Manuela Schar in second (1:45:00) and four-time winner Tatyana McFadden of the United States in third (1:45:51).
British racer Eden Rainbow-Cooper finished seventh following her win in Boston last week.
London Marathon 2024 – all the winners
- Men’s race: Alexander Mutiso Munyao, 2:04:00
- Women’s race: Peres Jepchirchir, 2:16:13
- Men’s wheelchair race: Marcel Hug, 1:28:35
- Women’s wheelchair race: Catherine Debrunner, 1:38:54
(Top photo: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
