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Eliud Kipchoge’s reign as king of the London Marathon came to a shock ending when Shura Kitata emerged from rain and darkness to become the new champion, after Brigid Kosgei had successfully defended her women’s title.
In a surprising surprise, Kipchoge, who had won all four of his previous London marathons and had not lost in the distance in seven years, fell alarmingly around the 22-mile mark. The 35-year-old world record holder had no response when a leading group of seven walked away from him and finished eighth.
Instead, the title was on the line and it was Ethiopian Kitata who snatched it in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 41 seconds, beating Kenya’s Vincent Kipchumba on the line after a thrilling finish to the race.
A faster run was predicted due to the nature of the course (19.7 laps to St James’s Park instead of the traditional street route), but the incessant rain and cold temperatures put an end to that. With Kipchoge’s great rival, Kenenisa Bekele, the second fastest marathon runner in history, failing due to injury, the stage looked set for a fifth victory for the Kenyan.
But despite the slow pace he fell short and Kitata made the most of it, as Kipchoge was beaten for the first time since finishing second in Berlin in 2013.
In the morning women’s race, Kosgei comfortably won her duel with her Kenyan partner Ruth Chepngetich, the world champion, who was eventually overtaken in second place by Sarah Hall of the United States.
Kosgei drove home with seven miles to go, leaving Chepngetich, who looked stronger in the middle stages of the race, far behind. The pair were one minute ahead of their closest rival at the halfway point, and seemed set to upset the women’s world record of two hours 17 minutes and one second.
But as the rain began to fall harder, the pace slowed and Kosgei finally crossed the line in 2: 18.58, nearly five minutes off his world record set in Chicago last year. “The weather was not good, so we had problems,” Kosgei said. “I fought until the moment I finished. We have not prepared well due to the pandemic. I will be ready to get good results next year ”.
A grueling Chepngetich was caught by an impressive late charge from Hall, hitting her with just a few steps remaining.
There was disappointment for the two great British hopefuls, Lily Partridge and Steph Twell, who withdrew long before the finish line. Instead, the British title went to Natasha Cockram, who finished outside the Olympic qualifying mark in 2: 33.19, four seconds ahead of Naomi Mitchell.
The race, originally scheduled to run in April, was adapted to 19.7 laps of St James’s Park rather than the traditional street route, and restricted to elite runners only, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Sean Ingle’s full career report will follow
