© Copyright – 2025 – Athletics Illustrated

Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya had to contend with former world record holder Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia right to the end of the world championships marathon. They finished two seconds apart, and the race came down to what was left of their respective kicks.

Jepchirchir, the Tokyo Olympic Champion, finished in two hours, 24 minutes and 43 seconds. Assefa is credited with second in 2:24:45.

The surprise of the day came from the face of Uruguayan athlete Julia Paternain, who clocked in at 2:27:23. She earned the bronze medal. It is the first medal won by a Uruguayan athlete in the history of the world championships. As Paternain was rounding the track toward the finish, she kept looking around to count bodies and seemed perplexed that only two people had appeared to finish. When it dawned on her that she earned the bronze medal, she broke out with a wide smile.

Paternain’s personal best came in March 2025 in New York, where the 25-year-old finished in 2:27:09. She was only 14 seconds off of her personal best in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Jepchirchir is a two-time World Half Marathon champion and World Road Running champion in the half marathon (two different events). She has won the London, Boston and New York Marathons. In April 2024, she set her personal best at 2:16:16 in London.

In 2023, Assefa broke Brigid Kosgei’s world record, having run the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:53. The performance was bettered by Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich at the 2024 Chicago Marathon to 2:09:53; however, she tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The record continues to stand.

The top Japanese marathon finisher was Kana Kobayashi with her 2:28:50 performance and seventh-place finish.

Kenya was called out this week by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), as non-compliant and faces potential suspension in October.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.