The latest in the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON’S history of fast performances is happening shortly as Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge returns to defend his title against the former world record holder Wilson Kipsang on Sunday.
The great Kenyan duo have met on two previous occasions here with the match score currently tied at 1-1. Eliud Kipchoge as last year’s winner is expected to be attacking his personal best of 2:03:05 which would mean running at world record tempo, given that Kipchoge’s best is only eight seconds slower than the current world record. This was set four years ago in Berlin by his fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto with his time of 2:02:57. Wilson Kipsang broke the previous world record to win the 2013 Berlin title with 2:03:23, beating Eliud Kipchoge into the bargain
Tirunesh Dibaba, arguably the greatest female distance runner in history, will be making her debut at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON. The key factor in her choice of race venue is Berlin’s well-proven ability to offer a platform for super-fast performances. If conditions are favourable, the Ethiopian might well attack the world record, set by Britain’s Paula Radcliffe in 2002 with 2:15:25 in London. Dibaba is Ethiopia’s national record holder with 2:17:56 which is a big margin to make up, yet she has the pedigree of three Olympic golds in long distance track events to make any challenge credible. Last year’s women’s champion Gladys Cherono and her fellow Kenyan, the double World Marathon champion Edna Kiplagat, are likely to be Dibaba’s most dangerous rivals
The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is one of the events in the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Berlin marks the start of Series XII which will finish a year from now. Further information about the Abbott World Marathon Majors is available at: www.worldmarathonmajors.com
The top 12 contenders and PBs
MEN
Eliud Kipchoge KEN 2:03:05
Wilson Kipsang KEN 2:03:13
Eliud Kiptanui KEN 2:05:21
Amos Kipruto KEN 2:05:43
Abera Kuma ETH 2:05:50
Arata Fujiwara JPN 2:07:48
Yuki Sato JPN 2:08:58
Daisuke Uekado JPN 2:09:27
Kohei Ogino JPN 2:09:36
Kenta Murayama JPN 2:09:50
Daichi Kamino JPN 2:10:18
Zersenay Tadese ERI 2:10:41
WOMEN
Tirunesh Dibaba ETH 2:17:56
Gladys Cherono KEN 2:19:25
Aselefech Mergia ETH 2:19:31
Edna Kiplagat KEN 2:19:50
Ruti Aga ETH 2:20:41
Mizuki Matsuda JPN 2:22:44
Rei Ohara JPN 2:23:20
Honami Maeda JPN 2:23:48
Andrea Deelstra NED 2:26:46
Inés Melchor PER 2:26:48
Carla Rocha POR 2:27:08
Caterina Ribeiro POR 2:30:10
Race Statistics
44,389 Runners
5,258 Inline Skaters
180 Handbikers
63 Wheelchair athletes
49,890 Marathon entries (total) from 133 nations
Polar is the new Timing Partner for the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
We are welcoming Polar as the new official timing partner. Lars Adloff, Country Manager Polar Deutschland explains: „The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is one of the largest, most well-known and greatest sports events in Germany, with a very strong international radiance. It is, therefore, the perfect opportunity to showcase our newest range of solutions which consist of an ecosystem of wearables, apps and cloud services.” Christian Jost, Managing Director of SCC EVENTS, is enthusiastic about the commitment by the innovator of sports technology: “With Polar, the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON gains a trusted performance partner well-known by accuracy, reliability and superior experience. In our view, this is a promising combination. We are looking forward to the cooperation.”
