Five years ago, the Kenyan made history by breaking Paula Radcliffe’s world record with 2:14:04 at the Chicago Marathon
On October 13 2019, Brigid Kosgei made history by breaking Paula Radcliffe’s long-standing women’s world record with a stunning time of 2:14:04 at the Chicago Marathon.
Radcliffe’s record of 2:15:25, set in London in 2003, had remained untouched for 16 years, with no athlete coming within 90 seconds of it – until Kosgei’s remarkable performance.
Like Radcliffe, Kosgei was assisted by male pacemakers, yet she managed to shave a significant amount of time off the historic mark.
Brigid Kosgei (Getty)
The 30-year-old’s record-breaking feat came just one day after her fellow Kenyan, Eliud Kipchoge, made headlines by breaking the two-hour-marathon barrier with a time of 1:59:41 at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna.
Inspired by her compatriot’s performance the day before, Kosgei said: “I kept saying, ‘tomorrow is my day.’ I wanted to be the second Kipchoge – the Kipchoge for women I focused on that.”
Earlier in 2019, Kosgei had already shown her potential by winning the London Marathon in April with a personal best of 2:18:20. She followed that up by running the fastest half-marathon ever by a woman, clocking 64:28 at the Great North Run.
Her performance in Chicago was extraordinary, going through the halfway point in 66:59 – more than a minute faster than Radcliffe had during her world record in London.
The Kenyan’s achievement was made even more special as it came exactly 17 years (now 22) after Radcliffe set her first world record of 2:17:18, which also in Chicago.
Brigid Kosgei (Mark Shearman)
Kosgei’s 2:14:04 no longer stands as Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa bettered it at last year’s Berlin Marathon, running an astonishing 2:11:53 and becoming the first woman to break 2:14, by a significant margin.
It means that Kosgei now sits third on the all-time marathon list, with Sifan Hassan, who won in Chicago last year with 2:13:44, now also ahead in the rankings.
The women’s-only marathon world record is currently held by another Kenyan, Peres Jepchirchir, who clocked 2:16:16 at the London Marathon this year.
After her world record in 2019, Kosgei went on to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, where she secured a silver medal in the marathon behind Jepchirchir. Just eight weeks later, Kosgei then finished fourth at the London Marathon.
Brigid Kosgei (London Marathon Events)
Her fifth-place finish in London this year, with a time of 2:19:02, secured her a spot on the Kenyan Olympic team in Paris alongside Jepchirchir and Hellen Obiri.
However, she had to withdraw from the team due to an injury in the lead-up to the Games. She was replaced by Sharon Lokedi, putting her dream of a second Olympic appearance on hold.
To celebrate this historic anniversary, you can find our original coverage from the Chicago marathon via the Athletics Weekly archive.
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