12 marathons, 11 first-place finishes, the first human to run a marathon in under two hours and hadn't lost in 7 years. Give first place in the London Marathon 2020 to Eliud Kipchoge right now, because who else is going to win it?
From the first kilometers it was clear that the race was not going to unfold at world record pace, in a rainy and freezing London. The leading group passed the first 5k in 14:48, more than 20 seconds slower than world record pace. And so they continued until the end. In reality, no one attacked, no one picked up the pace and dropped Kipchoge, he fell behind on his own after passing the 30-kilometer mark. "After 25 kilometers my ear blocked up and never opened again. But that's sport, we must accept defeat and focus on winning next time," tweeted the world record holder minutes after finishing. "I'm really disappointed, I had a problem with my right ear after it blocked and then I cramped up and had problems with my hip, it was cold but I'm not going to blame the weather," he told the BBC, not without adding: "I'll go back with my coach and see what happens, I still have more marathons in me".
The race was won in a final sprint by 24-year-old Ethiopian Shura Kitata, with a time of 2:05:41. Kitata had finished second in this same marathon in 2018, only behind Kipchoge himself. Just one second later, Kenyan Vincent Chumba arrived in second place, and Ethiopian Sisay Lemma closed the podium, 4 seconds later.
"Kenenisa Bekele was helping me for this race and gave me advice on how to win it," the winner said at the finish. "I trained for this same course, I'm very happy with the victory". This is the first major victory for the Ethiopian, although he had previously won the marathons in Rome and Frankfurt in 2017, he had only been able to finish second in a Marathon Major, in 2018 in London and in New York.
In the women's race, which started earlier, world record holder Brigid Kosgei confirmed her favorite status and won with a time of 2:18:58. Second place went to American Sara Hall with 2:22:01.
For the first time in 40 editions, the London Marathon was run on a closed circuit of 2.15 kilometers around St. James Park, with no spectators and with strict health measures and protocols to prevent any risk of COVID-19 contagion.
