Kelvin Kiptum poses with his trophy at the World Athletics gala in Monte Carlo on November 11, 2023. [ World Athletics]
Kelvin Kiptum
Kiptum made history as he produced the finest male marathon performance of all time at the 2023 Chicago Marathon - a World Marathon Major.
The London Marathon champion had played down his chances of breaking the world record in Chicago, but still went ahead to smash the previous record set by Eliud Kipchoge in 2022, by a jaw dropping 34 seconds as he crossed the finish line in 2:00:35.
The 24-year-old athlete blazed negative splits for the second half-at the Chicago marathon when he tore away to a historic world record moment.
In 2024, the world will be looking forward to another thriller at the Rotterdam Marathon as Kiptum lines up.
In 2019, he ran the Rotterdam marathon as a pace setter but in April, his sights will be on writing history ahead of the Paris Olympics in August.
"I will try to beat my World Record in Rotterdam... I know I am capable of doing that, if my preparation works according to plan and the conditions are okay. In that case I will be looking to get close to the two-hour barrier. That might look ambitious, but I am not afraid of setting such goals," Kiptum said at a press conference for the Rotterdam Marathon in November 2023.
Chicago was his third career marathon and second Major victory after winning the London Marathon title in April, in a course record of 2:01:25.
Kiptum, who is represented by Marc Corstjens of Golazo, is also expected to attack the Rotterdam course record of 2:03:36 set by Bashir Abdi in 2021. Abdi also won the 2023 marathon in 2:03:47.
Kenya's Agnes Ngetich broke the 10km women only record at the Trunsylvania 10km, clocking 29:24 in Romania on September 10, 2023. [Agencies]
Agnes Ngetich
Agnes Ngetich delivered a mouthwatering show in the Trunsylvania 10km at the Brasov Running Festival when she sped to a women-only 10km world record of 29:24.
En route to the 10km record, Ngetich passed through 5km in 14:25 which is a women-only world record.
With the 5km performance, the World Cross Country bronze medallist is a record holder in the road distance.
She is likely to eye a place in team Kenya to the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia after bagging a bronze in Bathurst 23.
The Brasov Running Festival is remembered as a blistering race that started at a hectic pace right from the gun with Ngetich, compatriot Catherine Relin and Joy Cheptoyek of Uganda left behind the pacemaker - who had been asked to push the contestants through 5km in 15:00.
The trio cruised through the 1500m mark in a stunningly fast 4:12, leaving enthusiasts questioning the tactical decision of such a fast start. Cheptoyek - the Ugandan, started fading away at around 2.5km of that race.
Ngetich and Relin went through 3km in 8:32 but it was only a few hundred metres down the road on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city that the latter started to drift back and from then on Ngetich was out on her own as she came home.
The 2023 World Cross Country Championships bronze medallist - who finished second in Brasov 12 months before and was sixth in the women's 10,000m at the Budapest World Championships in a personal best of 31:34.83 - went through 5km in a women-only world record of 14:25, which is four seconds faster than the previous mark set by Ethiopia's Senbere Teferi in 2021.