TThe 2025 world of athletics season offers several key events, including the world indoor athletics championships in Nanjing, the athletics world championships in Tokyo and Diamond League. The world of athletics relay in Guangzhou and in the world championships of inaugural athletics in Budapest also mark important events in 2025.
However, Munyao defends himself and Kiplimo made his debut, Hassan and Assefa compete in London Marathon Sunday, April 27.
From the defense of the title of Alexander Mutiso Munyao, the return of Eliud Kipchoge and the beginnings of Jacob Kiplimo to Tigist Asfa with Sifan Hassan and the late addition of Vivian Cheruiyot – The London TCS Marathon on Sunday (April 27) is stacked with stars and stories.
Many of the biggest names in the marathon race will be run in the world event on the Platinum label of athletics this weekend, including six men with a sub2: 04 pbs and seven women who broke 2:20, four of them with performance of less than 2:17.
In addition to Munyao, Kipchoge and Kiplim, the male field presents Sabastian Sawe, Tamirat Tola and Mildesa Mangesha, while Assefa, Hassan and Cheruiyot are joined in female programming by Joyciline Jepkosgei, Megertu Alemu and Stella Chesang.
Then, there is the long-awaited marathon beginnings that the record for the world half-marathon record Kiplimo, who will be joined by beginner colleagues Alex Yee and Eilish McColgan in the British capital.
Munyao of Kenya won the male race in 2:04:01 last year and dropped twice under 2:04 – The twice in Valencia – established his bp of 2:03:11 in 2023. He ranked 21st in the Olympic marathon in Paris but began the year with a 59:16 half -marathon victory.
In London, he faces three men with faster PBS. At the top of the list is the big kipchoge of the marathon, the quadruple winner of the London marathon and double Olympic champion who succeeded 2:01:09 in Berlin in 2022 – a former world record which now places him second on the world list of all time.
Kenya Kipchoge ran for the last time in London in 2020, when the event took place on a different course due to the pandemic. Before that, he won in 2015, 2016, 2016 and 2019, and in the years that followed his triumph in Tokyo and Berlin. He returned to Tokyo last year and ranked 10th before abandoning during the Olympic marathon in Paris, so the now 40 years will want to bounce back into the streets of the city in which he previously obtained so successful.
The spotlights will also be on his compatriot SAWE to see what he can do when he participated in his second marathon, after his beginnings at 2:02:05 in Valence in December – the second fastest of the beginnings of the story of 2:01:53 reached by the late Kelvin Kiptum of Valencia in 2022. Chronometric 26:49 for 10 km.
Regarding the half-marathon, the Kiplimo in Uganda is the current king. Now, the world is waiting to see what it can do on double the distance. The 24 -year -old run 56:42 in Barcelona in February to regain the world record and take 48 seconds from the previous best global improvement – the largest unique improvement in the world record for male half -marathon. He won the world half-marathon title in 2020, held world and Olympic bronze medals at the 10,000 m and is a double world cross-country champion.
He is in large company when he takes the step up to 26.2 miles. In addition to the pretenders mentioned above, Tola in Ethiopia is the champion of the Olympic marathon and has the best of 2:03:39 in 2021, while his compatriot Mangesha ran 2:03:17 during the victory of Berlin Marathon last year.
Timothy Kiplagat of Kenya ran 2:02:55 in the second place of Tokyo Marathon from last year, while Mohamed Esa of Ethiopia was a finalist in Boston and Chicago last year, and Dutch holder Abdi Nageeye won the New York marathon last year.
Like Kiplimo, the champion of Olympic triathlon Yee made a start of the marathon planned in London. The 27 -year -old won the British title of 10,000 m in 2018 and ran 28:07 for 10 km in Valence in January.
Two of the three fastest women in history will renew their rivalry in London. The Dutch star Hassan and Ethiopia Assefa obtained the first two places from the Olympic marathon last year, obtaining gold and silver respectively after an exciting sprint that saw Hassan Pip Asfa only three seconds in Paris.
Now, they return to London – Hassan for the first time since his beginnings on the epic marathon in 2023 and Assefa a year, from the finalist to the world record reserved for women of Peres Jepchirchir.
Assefa is second on the list of all time of the world marathon with 2:11:53 that she timed by winning Berlin in 2023. It was a world record at the time and saw her crush the previous brand of more than two minutes when she became the first woman to run at 2:13 and 2:12. The world record has since been put at 2:09:56 by Ruth Chepngetich.
Assefa also run at 2:15:37 to win in Berlin in 2022 and his time in London was at 2:16:23 while she finished only seven seconds behind Jepchirchir. She will seek a similar performance this time because she will face not only Hassan, who has the best of 2:13:44, but also Jepkosgei and Alemu who finished the first four behind Assefa in London last year – the first marathon in which four women finished at 2:17.
This 2:13:44 by Hassan was produced in Chicago in 2023, five and a half months after her dramatic beginnings in London where she overcome a series of reverse to win in 2:18:33. She finished fourth in Tokyo and became Olympic champion in Paris, only 37 hours after obtaining bronze at 10,000 m and six days after another bronze in 5000m. The race on Sunday will be its first since the Olympic Games.
Jepkosgei from Kenya timed 2:16:24 Last year and Ethiopia Alemu ran 2:16:34 and they finish the sub2: 17 quartet by contesting this year’s race. In addition to his third place last year, Jepkosgei won the London 2021 marathon and finished finalist in 2022, while Alemu won the Valence marathon in December and finished second behind Hassan in London in 2023 and third in 2022.
Uganda Chesang was a finalist in Alemu that day in Valencia where she directed a national record of 2:18:26, and before that, she finished eighth at the Olympic marathon.
They will be joined on the starting line by the 2018 London 2018 Marathon champion in Kenya, Cheruiyot, who returns to the race for the first time in five years. More recently, the 41 -year -old Olympic and World Multiple Travel Medalist finished third at the New York Marathon from last year.
McColgan of Great Britain, the Commonwealth 10,000m champion will make her debut in the marathon. –AGENCES
