Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot won the 2018 London Marathon but Paula Radcliffe’s ‘mixed-gender’ race world record remained intact.
Cheruiyot, 34, crossed the finish line in an personal best two hours, 18 minutes and 31 seconds. That was more than three minutes slower than the 2:15:25 four-time British Olympian Radcliffe ran in 2003. Mary Keitany and Tirunesh Dibaba had been looking to break Radcliffe’s record but both faded.
Olympic 5,000m champion Cheruiyot ran her first marathon in London last year and finished fourth overall before winning in Frankfurt in October. Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei (2:20:13) finished second, with Ethiopia’s Tadelech Bekele (2:21:30) third. Keitany had been on course to break Radcliffe’s record but eventually finished fifth (2:24:27) having lost the lead she had held from the start with around five miles remaining.
Photo Credit: Getty
