By Chris Chavez
April 21, 2024
The final World Marathon Major of the spring is in the books and we now have much more clarity on the possible Olympic teams that will be fielded by powerhouses Kenya and Ethiopia. Sunday proved to be a traditionally fast day in London with Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir smashing the women’s-only marathon world record by 45 seconds in 2:16:16 and 25-year-old Alexander Mutiso Munyao getting his first World Marathon Major victory in 2:04:01.
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Let’s unpack the biggest takeaways from the race…
Peres Jepchirchir Breaks The Women’s-Only World Record, Solidifies Her Case For Olympic Team Selection
Courtesy TCS London Marathon
The women’s race had it all: fast times, close finishes, and historic depth. Coming into the home stretch, four women were in contention for the victory. Reigning Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir managed to surge ahead and win in 2:16:16 to claim the women’s-only marathon record and her first World Marathon Major victory since November 2022. Tigist Assefa (2nd place in 2:16:23), Joyciline Jepkosgei (3rd place in 2:16:24) and Mergutu Alemu (2:16:34) all dipped under the previous mark of 2:17:01 set by Mary Keitany on the same course in 2017. (Note: For those wondering what makes this a women’s-only world record, the women started 35 minutes before the men so they did not have any male pacers around them. Assefa’s outright world record of 2:11:53 had male pacers.)
With that performance, Jepchirchir moves to No. 11 on the all-time list. Despite having one of the best resumes in the sport with Olympic gold, three World Marathon Major titles, and three World Half titles, Jepchirchir was only 16th on the all-time list before today and hadn’t set a personal best in over three years.
Jepchirchir is now in good standing to be selected for an Olympic title defense, something no woman has ever accomplished. Before London, the big question was whether she could regain that 2021/2022 form, when she won the Olympics, Boston and New York all within eight months. While she did finish third in London in 2023 and won the half marathon title at the Riga road running championships, the last 12 months have been far from blemish-free. In November, she showed up to New York City to defend her title but injured her hamstring in the days leading up to the race and withdrew on race day. And in her tune-up race for London, she was a well-beaten for seventh at the RAK Half Marathon – over two minutes off the winner. But her win in London will likely put any doubts to rest: not only did she run historically fast; she beat one of the greatest marathon fields ever assembled in the process.
My prediction for the Kenyan Olympic team in Paris is – Hellen Obiri, Peres Jepchirchir and Sharon Lokedi. If Lokedi isn’t named to the team, Brigid Kosgei (2:14:04 PB, 5th in London, 5 WMM titles) or Rosemary Wanjiru (2:16:14 PB, 2nd in Tokyo 2024, 1st in Tokyo 2023) would also be likely.
What’s Next For Tigst Assefa?
Courtesy TCS London Marathon.
Last fall, Ethiopian Tigst Assefa redefined the possible when she obliterated the women’s marathon world record with a 2:11:53 run in Berlin. Coming into London, she talked a bit about wanting to run under 2:10:00. She told The Guardian: “Having broken the world record in Berlin, it has given me a lot of encouragement and confidence. I feel like I can go on to achieve greater things. I want to stay in the sport for a long time and I do want to improve my world record. So in the future, I want to run under two hours and 10 minutes.”
Assefa has run four marathons: a lowkey 2:34:01 debut in Riyadh in 2022, her breakout 2:15:37 victory in Berlin 2022, her world-record title defense in 2023, and London today. She could headline the Ethiopian Olympic marathon squad in Paris, but she has limited experience on hilly courses or championship style racing. I’d venture a guess that she will be tempted by a hefty appearance fee to return to Berlin as the defending champion and give that sub-2:10 a shot. With heavy hitters like reigning World champ Amane Beriso (2:14:58 PB), Sutume Asefa (2:15:55 PB, Tokyo ‘24 champ), and Tigist Ketema (2:16:07 PB, Dubai ‘24 champ, 7th in London) waiting in the wings, Ethiopia may not even miss her.
Alexander Mutiso Munyao Gets His First Major Victory At The Right Time
Courtesy TCS London Marathon
Similar to Jepchirchir, Munyao needed to make a statement to prove his respective case for Olympic selection. Unlike Jepchirchir, however, Munyao is not yet a household name. He entered the race with the second-fastest personal best on the entry list with his 2:03:11 from a runner-up finish in Valencia last December. Only the legendary Kenenisa Bekele (the third-fastest man in history with a 2:01:41 personal best) had gone faster, and the two were locked in a battle into the final 10K of the race. With just 2K left, Munyao made his move to gap Bekele and then held on for the win in 2:04:01. Munayo was on Athletics Kenya’s shortlist for selection to Paris. but the case against him was that despite strong runs at the Prague Marathon and Valencia Marathon in 2023, he’d yet to get it done at a World Major. His only prior World Marathon Major race was a DNF at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon.
My prediction for the Kenyan Olympic team in Paris is – Eliud Kipchoge, Benson Kipruto and Alexander Mutiso Munyao. That would leave three-major champ Evans Chebet off the Olympic team, a choice likely to elicit a similar fan reaction to Mary Keitany’s 2016 snub.
Kenenisa Bekele Headed To A Fourth Olympics At 41 Years Old?
Courtesy TCS London Marathon
It’s been nearly 12 years since Kenensia Bekele competed at the Olympics. His three Olympic gold medals came in 2004 and 2008 on the track. He just missed out on a bronze medal in the 10,000m final at the London Olympics (which was won by Nike Oregon Project teammates Mo Farah and Galen Rupp) by one second to his brother Tariku Bekele. I bet that was an awkward family dinner when they returned home to Ethiopia.
However, we’ve never seen Bekele race the marathon at the Summer Games.
In 2016, he wasn’t selected by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation and then went on to break their national record and win the Berlin Marathon in 2:03:03. If the Olympics were on time in 2020, he would’ve been a good selection coming off a 2:01:41 and another win in Berlin, but he was not chosen. All three of the Ethiopian men who eventually competed in Sapporo in 2021 (Lelisa Desisa, Sisay Lemma and Shura Kitata) dropped out.
Much like the 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball team, Ethiopia is looking to field a Redeem Team in Paris. Lemma, the Boston champ, could play the LeBron James role with a second chance at Olympic glory. Bekele would be like the Jason Kidd selection – a veteran you reward for their career with a final Olympic sendoff. The third spot would be up for grabs among the likes of Tadese Takele (who ran 2:03:24 last fall in Berlin), Deresa Geleta (who ran 2:03:27 to win February’s Seville Marathon) or Tamirat Tola (who won last fall’s New York City Marathon in 2:04:58 but dropped out after 35K in London).
One runner who didn’t drop out: 2021 Chicago Marathon champion Seifu Tura, who was perhaps trying to make his case as the grittiest runner from Ethiopia. He hit the halfway point with the leaders in 1:01:29. He may have really fallen apart in the final two kilometers or just decided to walk it in because he was just 3:31 behind the leaders at 40K (2:00:40) but showed up in the results with an eventual finish time of 2:36:20.
Team GB’s Marathon Team Becomes Clear As Emile Cairess Gets The Home Team On The Podium
Courtesy TCS London Marathon
Coming into Sunday’s race, Phil Sesemann was the only British man named to the Olympic team for Paris after clocking a 2:08:04 in Seville earlier this year to just get under the Olympic standard. That put him at No. 3 on the all-time British marathoner list only behind Mo Farah (2:05:11) and Steve Jones (2:07:13). Today, he got bumped down one spot as Emile Cairess ran 2:06:46 for the second-fastest British marathon time ever and a third place finish. It was the first time since 2018 that a British man finished on the podium at the London Marathon. Cairess was followed closely by fellow Brit Mahamed Mahamed in 2:07:05. Those two will likely be named to the Olympic squad for Paris.
This unfortunately leaves out former Bowerman Track Club runner Marc Scott, who started to fall off from Cairess and Mahamed by 30K. Scott finished his marathon debut in 2:11:19 for 11th place. If he wants to keep the Olympics on his calendar, he will need to quickly shift his focus back to the track. There are few opportunities to run a fast 10,000m and The Night of The 10K PBs on May 18th may be too soon. Scott does have a 5000m PB of 12:57.08 from 2022, but has not raced that distance on the track in nearly two years.
How’d the Americans Do?
Not seeing a result for Susanna Sullivan, who was the only American announced as part of the women’s elite field and missed the U.S. Olympic Trials due to injury and illness.
11 weeks after dropping out of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, Brian Shrader finished 10th in 2:10:50. That’s the second-best marathon of his career after his 2:09:46 personal best in Chicago last fall. He went through halfway in London in 1:03:39 and was in position to possibly unlock Leonard Korir’s Olympic team spot for Paris with a sub-2:08:10 but he fell off in the final 10K. As noted by LetsRun’s Jonathan Gault, CJ Albertson is currently ranked 71st and is within the World Rankings quota that would unlock Korir’s spot.
What’s Next?
The next major marathon will come at the Paris Olympics. The men will race on Aug. 10th and the women will close the Games out on Aug. 11th.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.
