World record holder Ruth Chepng’etich confesses that she was left in shock on May 1 when Athletics Kenya named the final marathon team to represent the country at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games that were held from July 26 to August 11.
Chepng’etich had represented Kenya at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, winning the women’s marathon gold and also raced in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games held in 2021, but failed to finish. She was in the Kenyan team that competed in the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon but dropped out of the race after feeling unwell.
She was eager to compete at the Paris Olympics and get her redemption even as she returned the faith selectors had put in her all these years.
She had been named in the provisional four-strong team alongside Brigid Kosgei, Peres Jepchirchir, Hellen Obiri and Sharon Lokedi.
Only three were allowed to enter the Games and going by her form and CV, Chepngetich was sure she would make the final squad. Instead, the celebrated runner was the one dropped.
In an exclusive interview with Nation Sport on the sidelines of the Great Ethiopian Run 10km road race that was held last Sunday, she confessed, that she was called to Eldoret for a meeting that she knew the team to Paris would be named.
Athletics Kenya’s president, Jack Tuwei, announced the marathon squad as it was handed to the National Olympic Committee of Kenya. Chepngetich, 30, could only struggle with her emotions as it dawned on her that she would not be boarding that plane to Paris.
“I was so discouraged and I remember calling my managers in Italy and telling them that I was going to quit running and I just wanted to do other things.
“You can imagine, they were shocked and they pleaded with me to start training for the second season of marathon,” said Chepngetich.
Sense returned to her, inevitably, eventually.
“It took time to decide if I really wanted to continue with my career and after soul searching and being persuaded by management, I decided to continue training it was normal because when I went to the London Marathon, I didn’t perform well and it was just like training for me,” said the Ngong-based athlete.
At the London Marathon, Chepngetich, who had come back from injury, finished a disappointing ninth in a time of 2:24:36.
The disappointment of not racing at the Paris Olympics made Chepngetich direct all her focus on a goal she had been pursuing for several years - breaking the women’s world marathon record.
Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya poses for a photo with the time clock after finishing first in the women’s race, setting a new world record at 2:09:56 during the Chicago Marathon at Grant Park on October 13, 2024.
Photo credit: Patrick Gorski | Reuters
How apt that the Chicago Marathon was five months away, ample time to embark on a serious training programme.
The soft-spoken athlete in fact started thinking about attacking the world record in 2018 -- the women’s only record of 2:17:01 held by fellow Kenyan Mary Keitany.
Chepngetich won the Nagoya Marathon in a course record time of 2:17:18, some nine seconds outside Keitany’s world record.
“When I missed the record, I saw it was something achievable and I started to seriously think about owning the world record.
“I went for it at the 2022 Chicago Marathon where I managed to win the race but missed the world record by 14 seconds after timing 2:14:18,” she said.
The hunt for the record was officially on for Chepngetich and last year she once again set her eyes on lowering the record at the Chicago Marathon but ended up finishing second in a time of 2:15:37, behind Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan who won in a course record time of 2:13:44.
This year something had to give. Chepngetich says thoughts of the world record were running all over her mind and standing on the podium in Chicago this year but she didn’t share this with people.
On the eve of the race, on October 12, Chepngetich met her two pacemakers Barnabas Kiptum and Evans Mayaka and discussed with them how they were going to attack the race to the smallest of details.
“My pacemakers were surprised when I told them that we have to cross the half mark at 65 minutes and in the second, the clock should stop after 64 minutes.”
That meant Chepngetich was aiming to run the marathon in under two hours and 10 minutes, something that had never happened before in history and perhaps considered unreachable for a woman then.
The world record then stood at a blistering 2:11:53, set by Ethiopian Tigst Assefa in Berlin on September 24 last year.
“No one else knew my plan and the next day we went for the race and, the way I was feeling and the shape I was in, I was so confident that the record would fall but I didn’t expect 2:09,” she added.
Chepngetich says that when she hit the halfway mark in 64 minutes she seriously thought of how her body would handle the second split. This was unknown territory for a woman.
Then, for the first time, she revealed that at the 38km mark, she got a scare when her left quadriceps started feeling like they were tensing.
She shouted her concern and her pacemakers slowed down but she gathered her reserves and kept her pace.
Ruth Chepngetich celebrates after winning the Chicago Marathon in a new world record time of 2:09:56 on October 13, 2024.
Photo credit: Reuters
“Upon crossing the line, I was also shocked because I didn't really expect to finish under 2:10 and I was so happy. I had achieved what I was looking for since 2018 after good preparations and support from my team," said Chepngetich.
"Many were amazed when I said that I don't have a coach but that's something that I decided a long time ago. I just follow the programme given by my management team. So far, so good and I am happy. It is all about being disciplined and following the given programme strictly," she stated.
Responding to the doubts expressed in certain quarters over her record and whether she was clean Chepngetich said she was not cowed because there is nothing wrong she has done by running the fastest time in the world.
She was born in Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County but went to Sigowet Primary School in Kericho County where her parents had moved.
She however briefly dropped out of school while in Form Two to give birth to her daughter Shyline Chepkemoi, before eventually returning and sat her KCSE examination in 2023. All the while her mother was taking of Shyline.
“I love my daughter and I am working hard in my career for her. I want to give her the best,” Chepngetich simply says.
Her athletics prowess was built in secondary school where she competed in virtually all the track races and would represent her school in competitions.
It came when former athlete Alex Oleitiptip visited the Kericho team and saw how Chepngetich would keep pace with men in training sessions and decided this was a special runner.
He invited her to train in Ngong, in Kajiado County where he later introduced her to Rosa Management.
Chepngetich says she felt so motivated when Italian manager Federico Rosa signed her and promptly gave her proper training gear.
Well, two write it, her first high-profile race that same year was a half marathon race in Morocco where she finished third.
“I had an injury but I travelled to Prague because I wanted to race outside the country,” she reveals.
She next raced in Kenya, coming second in the in the Standard Chartered Half Marathon women’s category.
She also won the Sokotoko 10km race before heading to Turkey where she won the Adana Half Marathon race.
Her big moment came when she won the 2019 World Championships women’s marathon in Doha, Qatar.
"For now I'm taking a break though I'm training just to keep fit before the next season. I might compete in my next marathon in March or April,” says Chepngetich.
