Kipruto eyes redemption in Bogota after rocky season start

Olympic marathon bronze medallist Benson Kipruto will be chasing his first win of the 2025 season when he lines up for the Bogota Half Marathon on July 27 and hopes to reignite his form in the Colombian capital.

Kipruto, who stormed to Olympic bronze in Paris last year, has endured a shaky start to 2025.  He opened his season with a seventh-place finish at the Tokyo Marathon on March 2, clocking 2:05:4.

The race saw Ethiopians Tadese Takele (2:03:23) and Deresa Geleta (2:03:51) claim first and second place, with Kenyan Vincent Ngetich (2:04:00) completing the podium.

Kipruto had earlier revealed his intentions of finishing on the podium in his next race after the Tokyo disappointment.

“I want to get more mileage and sharpen up some other key areas in my training, like speed. I am targeting a podium in my next race,” Kipruto was quoted as saying.

His performance in Tokyo earlier this year was well off the blistering 2:02:16 that saw him triumph there in 2024, leading an all-Kenyan podium finish with Timothy Kiplagat (2:02:55) and Ngetich (2:04:18) in second and third place.

It was his dominant display at that race that handed him a slot in the Kenyan Marathon team for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

At the global extravaganza, Kipruto clocked 2:07:00 to claim bronze, just behind Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola (2:06:26) and Belgium’s Bashir Abdi (2:06:47).

His next test after Paris came at the Kolkata 25K on December 15, where he narrowly missed the podium once again, finishing fourth in 1:13:25.

Uganda’s Stephen Kissa (1:12:33), World 10,000m silver medallist Daniel Ebenyo (1:12:37) and Anthony Kipchirchir (1:12:55) claimed the podium.

Despite the recent setbacks, Kipruto remains a formidable force on the road circuit.

He holds marathon victories from Chicago 2022 (2:04:24) and Toronto 2018 (2:07:24) as well as runners-up finishes in Chicago 2023 (2:04:02) and Gongju 2017 (2:07:21). Over the half marathon, he holds victories from Kigali 2016 (1:04:13) and Guadalajara 2020 (1:02:13).

He is a runner-up from the Guadalajara 2022 edition (1:01:30) and a third-place finisher from Prague 2020 (1:00:06) and Guadalajara 2023 (1:01:30).

The Bogota Half Marathon race organisers expect a turnout of over 45,000 athletes, with record-breaking times expected.

“The 2025 Bogota Half Marathon promises to be one of the most competitive and spectacular editions in its history, with athletes already shining on the world circuit and the prospect of seeing new records set at the capital's altitude.”

Joining Kipruto in the men’s elite field is 2022 Prague Half Marathon champion Philemon Kiplimo.

Kiplimo arrives in Bogota riding high after finishing second at the Hamburg Marathon in April with a swift 2:04:01, behind compatriot Amos Kipruto (2:03:46).

In the women’s race, 2021 Amsterdam Marathon champion Angela Tanui spearheads the charge, joined by compatriot Selah Busienei, the 2015 World Relay silver medallist.

Tanui opened her 2025 campaign with a third-place finish at the Paris Marathon, clocking 2:21:07.

Meanwhile, Busienei got her season off on the wrong footing, finishing ninth at the Gentbrugge Half Marathon (1:13:11) in March and fourth at the Beijing Half Marathon (1:09:58) in April.