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The London Marathon released its elite fields… and they are absolutely stacked
The only world major marathon of 2020 might be the most top-heavy one in history. Forty-five men and 28 women will race on a flat two-kilometre loop around St. James Park, which will be enclosed in a secure biosphere.
The race will feature a battle between the running world’s top two (figurative) heavyweights: Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele.
Kipchoge (KEN🇰🇪) - Has won eight of nine major marathons he has entered, and is the only man to unofficially run a marathon faster than two hours.
Bekele (ETH🇪🇹) - Has been touted the best distance runner in history for once holding the 5,000m and 10,000m world records and winning eight Olympic and world gold medals and 11 cross-country world titles.
The pair have raced each other in the marathon four times, with Kipchoge coming away with the win each time. But they have not raced since Bekele won in Berlin last year in 2:01:41 - just two seconds shy of Kipchoge’s world record of 2:01:39.
Although the Kipper vs. Kenny battle is sure to grab headlines, several other world-class athletes will be in attendance.
Eight men who have run faster than 2:05 will be racing, including fourth fastest marathoner in history Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia (who is a proven gamer 👇)
Brigid Kosgei of Kenya plans to beat her own world record of 2:14:04. Five women who have run under 2:20, including defending marathon world champion Ruth Chepn’getich, and will wrestle her for the title.
Oh, and Sir Mo Farah, the four-time Olympic champion on the track, is going to provide pacing duties for athletes seeking that all important 2:11:29 Olympic qualifying standard.
Stockholm Diamond League features familiar faces and blazing times
Sunday, August 23 witnessed the second in-person Diamond League event of the season, hosted in Stockholm, Switzerland. So far, the Diamond League events have been contained to a small coterie of recurring athletes as familiar faces appeared in both Monaco and Stockholm. While there were no blistering world records in Stockholm, like Joshua Cheptegei’s 5,000m run, there were still some impressive results. Here’s a rundown:
Karsten Warholm
Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm, famous for his scream meme, ran a PB in the 400m hurdles of 46.87, just 0.09 seconds slower than the world record, beating the rest of the field by nearly three seconds. He followed that up with a win in the 400m, running 45.05, making it the fastest 400m hurdle/400m double ever run.
U.S. 800m phenom Donovan Brazier continued his streak of Diamond League domination, clocking 1:43.76 for the win, and 21-year-old Canadian Marco Arop is quickly earning his spot as one of the top 800m runners in the world, finishing 2nd behind Brazier in 1:44.
Kenyan runner Timothy Cheruiyot faced off against 19-year-old Norwegian prodigy Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1,500m again, with Cheruiyot getting the upper hand, but just barely. 3:30.25 to 3:30.74.
Finally, the Brits took no prisoners this weekend. Scotland’s Laura Muir ran away from the 1500m field with a 59 second last lap, clocking a world leading time of 3:57.86. She was followed closely by fellow Brits with Laura Weightman finishing second and Melissa Courtney-Bryant third, both in 4:01. And in the 800m, Scotland’s Jemma Reekie ran away from World Championship silver medalist Raevyn Rogers to win in 1:59.52.
Breaking Down a Deep London Marathon Field