Kenenisa Bekele has returned, and he did so by challenging the —until now considered unreachable— world record of Eliud Kipchoge in the mythical marathon distance with a tremendous time of 2:01:41, just two seconds behind the record that Kipchoge set a year ago in the same Berlin marathon.
No one saw it coming, no one expected it, perhaps not even Bekele himself, burdened by injuries since that distant 2016 when he won his last marathon, also in Berlin. Since then he had not won again and had withdrawn from three of the last six marathons in which he had participated. But the Ethiopian was healthy during the last three months and today he has once again proven why he is considered by many as the greatest distance runner in history.
Bekele still holds the world record in 5000 meters (12:37.35) and 10,000 meters (25:17.53), and in 2016 he was six seconds away from also having the marathon record when he ran 2:03:03 at a time when the record belonged to Dennis Kimetto with 2:02:57. Then came Kipchoge's show, smashing the stopwatch with his unforgettable 2:01:39 last year in Berlin, and no one thought breaking that mark was possible unless Kipchoge himself did it again. But giving up is not in Bekele's plans: "I'm very sorry, I didn't have luck. I'm very happy to have achieved my best personal record, but I can still do this (break the world record). I won't give up, this is motivating for the future," Bekele said as he crossed the finish line.
If he achieves the record, Kenenisa would become the first athlete in history to simultaneously hold the world record in 5000 meters, 10,000 meters, and marathon. His legendary compatriot Haile Gebrselassie already had the world records in all three distances, but not simultaneously (by the time he achieved the marathon record, Bekele himself had taken away his 5000 and 10,000 meter records).
The race
The pace set from the start aimed at the world record, the thing is that no one believed it was possible given that Kipchoge had run a much faster second half than the first when he achieved his record (1:01:06 and 1:00:33 each half). In the graph below you can see howBekele and the imaginary Kipchoge always ran very close to each other, managing to separate by a maximum of 10 seconds at kilometer 30. It was right at this kilometer when Bekele seemed to fall behind due to discomfort in his hamstring. His compatriot Berhanu Lagese had a 12-second advantage at kilometer 35, but then Bekele recovered from the discomfort and gained more and more strength.
Just before kilometer 38 Bekele caught up with and passed Lagese, who by the way finished with a time of 2:02:48, which makes him the third fastest marathoner in history (only behind Bekele and Kipchoge).At kilometer 40 Bekele had a two-second advantage over the imaginary Kipchoge of the world record, and at that moment everyone started to believe that it would truly be possible to break the impossible mark.
With clenched teeth and occasionally looking at his watch, Bekele knew perfectly well that he had the record within reach, or well, within his feet. He crossed the Brandenburg Gate virtually tied with Kipchoge and with the finish line just 400 meters away he tried to make the classic final kick that had won him so many races on the track. This time, however, it would not be enough.Bekele ran the last 2.195 kilometers in 6:11, four seconds slower than Kipchoge, and for the second time he fell just a few seconds short of being the fastest man in marathon history.
Would Kipchoge have run if he had known that someone was going to put his record at risk? The Kenyan did not run because in a couple of weeks he will attempt to be the first man in history to break two hours in the marathon. Such is the objective of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, which will take place between October 12 and 20 in Vienna, under controlled conditions, with a pace car and pacers, and therefore, the time he achieves will not be official, just as the 2:00:25 he achieved in Monza in 2017 was not.
Destiny perhaps will please us with an epic race between these two titans in the marathon of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Here we share with you a video with the final minutes of Bekele's race today in Berlin:
