Kenyan Kipchoge sets new marathon record

Kenyan Eluid Kipchoge crosses the finishline to win the Berlin Marathon yesterday. Pic/AFP

At least 13 people Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, 33, set a new marathon world record in Berlin yesterday, smashing the previous best as he clocked 2hr 1min 40sec.

The Olympic champion, aided by a string of pacemakers through to 25km of the 42.195km race, took 1min 17sec off the previous best set four years ago by Dennis Kimetto. It was the largest single improvement on the marathon world record since Derek Clayton improved the mark by 2:23 in 1967.

"My only words are 'Thank you!'," said Kipchoge, acclaimed as the greatest marathon runner of the modern era. Kipchoge has notched up 10 wins from the 11 marathons he has raced since making his debut in Hamburg in 2013.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever