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There are no rush hours, but a big surprise: Ethiopian Shura Kitata wins the marathon in London – Eliud Kipchoge is only eighth.
At the London Marathon, Eliud Kipchoge (second from right) had cramps after 25 kilometers.
Everything seemed perfectly organized: five and a half months after the original date, Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele, the two fastest marathon runners in history, were supposed to be (2:01:39 for Kipchoge and 2:01:41 for Bekele ) would meet in London for the big showdown.
But two days before the expected duel came the bad news: Bekele had to miss the start due to a calf injury. The road to victory, the fifth in London, seemed clear for the best marathoner in history. But fate doesn’t always follow logic. After 35 kilometers, Kipchoge could no longer keep up with the leading group. He reached the finish line in eighth place in 2:06:49 hours, more than a minute behind Ethiopian winner Shura Kitata, who won the final sprint against Vincent Kipchumba very close.
At the 40th London Marathon, what almost no one believed possible happened: for the first time since 2014, Eliud Kipchoge was defeated. He has won all ten marathons since then, eleven of twelve since his track debut a year earlier in Hamburg; Only in 2013 in Berlin, when Wilson Kipsang achieved a world record, did he have to settle for second place. And then there were his successes in the two sub-2 attempts, 2017 in Monza (2:00:25) and last year in Vienna, where he was the first person to run the 42,195 kilometers, albeit in laboratory conditions, in less than 2 hours. exactly at 1: 59: 40.2. Throughout the years he was a constant person and seemed indomitable. And now that, a real shock.
After the race, the teacher also struggled for an explanation: “After 25 kilometers, I suddenly had a plug in my right ear, and I also had mild cramps in the hip and thigh area. I do not know why. I felt very well. But that is sport. Defeat is part of that. “It was cold and raining at times; the track was wet and slippery, which was not ideal for Nike’s“ Zoom Alphafly ”super shoe, which Kipchoge had on his feet like a year ago in Vienna A one-time slip? Olympic year 2021 will tell. Old age may be creeping up on him. The Kenyan will turn 36 next month. Even the best race doesn’t last forever.
At the 40th London Marathon, some things had to be adapted to the crown situation. Instead of the grand circuit that starts at Blackheath and reaches the finish line on the Mall with Buckingham Palace as a royal backdrop, St. James Park now had to circle itself 19 times. The entire route was fully armored. Spectators: Nothing. Since their arrival in the English capital, the athletes have moved in a safe “biosphere”.
Nor was he allowed to leave the hotel complex to train. Athletes and their companions had to undergo a crown test in their home countries four days before departure and then again after arriving in London. So that the stars of the scene were not exposed to unnecessary risks, the London organizers even sent a Boeing 737-500 to Kenya. From Eldoret we went to the British metropolis via Addis Ababa. There were only two exceptions to the mask requirement: eating and training.
There is no doubt that the 2020 London Marathon will go down in history as the most extraordinary. Not just because Kipchoge lost.
