Athletics: Athletes-Women’s marathon record will belong to Kenya again, says Kosgei

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Kenya will recapture the women’s marathon world record, former holder Brigid Kosgei said on Thursday, as she prepares to make her New York City Marathon debut.

Kenyan Kosgei beat one of the most stubborn world records in athletics when she improved on Briton Paula Radcliffe’s 16-year-old benchmark by 81 seconds at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, winning in two hours 14 minutes and four seconds.

That stunning performance had a relatively brief time at the top of the record books, however, as Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa broke the tape at the Berlin Marathon in September in an astonishing two hours 11 minutes and 53 seconds.

“That record will be returned to Kenya,” Kosgei told reporters in New York. “We will do something good so that it will to return to Kenya.”

She will compete on Sunday alongside some formidable Kenyans, including Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir, Boston Marathon winner Hellen Obiri and Sharon Lokedi, who triumphed in Central Park last year.

They will have their work cut out for them on New York’s hills, and will likely have to wait to recapture the record in 2024, away from the punishing Big Apple course.

Ethiopian Assefa’s performance also stands atop a series of super-speedy recent times.

Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan ran Chicago this year in 2:13:44 and two others, Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich and Ethiopian Amane Shankule, in 2022 ran under Radcliffe’s best time.

“For me, the world record could be beaten by everyone – so a new face could come every year,” said Kosgei.

“That record is not easy to be beaten again – maybe every year someone can try their best.”

The Tokyo Olympic silver medallist makes her New York debut after a lengthy series of injury issues, having withdrawn minutes into the London Marathon earlier this year.

But the five-times major winner said she was optimistic for what she could achieve in the five boroughs, arriving in New York injury-free after an uninterrupted training period.

“On Sunday I’ve noticed the field is not easy,” said Kosgei. “For me I don’t have pressure, I just run my own race.”

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)