World Athletics announces 16 disciplines for inaugural Ultimate Championship
A total of 16 disciplines will feature at the new World Athletics Ultimate Championship in 2026, the World Athletics announced here on Friday.
World Athletics, the global governing body for international track and field competitions, has ratified Kelvin Kiptum’s world marathon record of 2:00:35 set in Chicago last year. Kenya’s Kiptum became the first athlete to break 2:01 in a record-eligible marathon, taking 34 seconds off the world record at the Chicago Marathon on October 8, 2023, the World Athletics informed in a statement on Tuesday.
With that performance, Kiptum improved his Personal Best by 50 seconds to surpass the world record of 2:01:09 set by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin on September 25, 2022. Kiptum pushed the pace throughout the race in Chicago. He broke away from a seven-strong lead group after reaching 5km in 14:26, joined by his compatriot Daniel Mateiko. They were on world record pace at 10km and passed in 28:42, but the tempo dropped a little and they reached halfway in 1:00:48.
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After 30km was passed in 1:26:31, Kiptum kicked and dropped Mateiko. A blistering 5km split of 13:51 took him to the 35km checkpoint in 1:40:22 and he was on sub-2:01 pace, 49 seconds ahead of Mateiko. Continuing to run with urgency, Kiptum passed 40km in 1:54:23 -– after a 27:52 10km split. He went on to win the race by almost three and a half minutes, crossing the finish line at 2:00:35.
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“I knew I was coming for a course record, but a world record -– I am so happy,” he said. “A world record was not on my mind today, but I knew one day I would be a world record-holder.”
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