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Shura Kitata wins the London Marathon on Sunday, October 4, 2020 (Getty Images).
Reuters
Shura Kitata beats Vincent Kipchumba to win thrilling London Marathon
Ethiopian Shura Kitata edged out Kenyan Vincent Kipchumba to win a thrilling London Marathon on Sunday when stunned world record holder Eliud Kipchoge fainted late in the race to suffer his first loss since 2013.
In cold and wet conditions, 24-year-old Kitata took the last few meters to beat Kipchumba by a second in two relatively slow hours, 05.41 minutes.
Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma was third in 2: 5.35, with Kipchoge the big favorite, who in his last race a year ago became the only man to break the two-hour mark for the distance, eighth in 2: 06.49 having suffered cramps and a blocked ear.
In the absence of the injured Kenenisa Bekele, Kipchoge was expected to lift a fifth crown in London, but was never able to assert his usual speed in the relentless cold rain.
Shura Kitata edged out favorite Eliud Kipchoge to win the men’s London Marathon. (Reuters)
He was in a group that went halfway in just under 63 minutes, very pedestrian relative to their recent runs, not forgetting his official world record of 2: 01.39 set in Berlin two years ago.
Ethiopians Lemma and Tamirat Tola, both wearing woolen hats to keep out the cold, began running as the field began to realize that perhaps Kipchoge was struggling.
They were right. The favorite, whose face never shows signs of suffering, wore the occasional grimace and lacked its usual softness.
At one point, the leaders logged a five-minute mile, an elite-level virtual jog. Then, as never seen before during his career, Kipchoge, 35, broke down, backing away from a group of six with just over three miles to go.
As the pace finally picked up, it dwindled to three, shoulder to shoulder, as they entered The Mall in a finish more akin to a 800-meter race than a marathon. The tall Kipchumba looked like he was going to do it as he advanced, but Kitata struggled magnificently to take the tape.
Kitata, who finished second in London in 2018, thanked his missing compatriot for his victory. “Kenenisa Bekele was helping me for this race and gave me advice on how to run,” he said. “I trained for the same course, I am very happy to win.”
Kipchoge had won 12 of his previous 13 marathons, coming second behind a world record in his second distance outing in Berlin in 2013.
“I’m really disappointed, I had a problem with my right ear after it got blocked, and then I really cracked up and had problems with my hip for the last 15km,” he said.
“It’s really cold but I don’t blame the conditions and I’m still there to go back.”
Previously, Kenyan world record holder Brigid Kosgei was a comfortable winner of the women’s race in 2: 18.58 when American Sara Hall achieved a grand finale to snatch second place from Ruth Chepngetich.
The races, originally postponed from April due to the COVID-19 pandemic, took place on nearly 20 laps of a fenced-in circuit in a “controlled safe biosphere” around St James’s Park.
Although there was no massive field this year, around 40,000 people run the distance at the locations of their choice during the day.
They will receive official finisher medals and raise millions of pounds for charities hard hit by the cancellation of the April race.
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