Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir gave Kenya the second gold in the women’s marathon as the World Athletics Championships entered the second day at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.
Jepchirchir engaged Ethiopian opponent, Tigst Assefa, in a sprint finish in the last 50 metres to take gold in a season best of 2:24:43. Assefa clocked 2:24:45 ahead of Uruguay’s Julia Paternain, who completed the podium in 2:27:23.
United States’ Susanna Sullivan, who led the race for a better part of the race, finished fourth in 2:28:17, with Finnish Alisa Vaino completing the top five places in 2:28:32.
Other Kenyans in the race, Jackline Cherono (2:33:17), placed 18th. In contrast, Magdalene Masai did not finish after briefly occupying the third place with 40 minutes to go.
In an interview, Chebet said she is happy to have won two medals in the same city. “I won gold at the 2020Tokyo Olympic Games and here I am with another gold. I am thrilled. I am very excited,” she added.
She, however, admitted that the weather in Tokyo was crazy and she is just happy to have survived the storm. “I don’t even know where the energy came from at the last 50metres, but I just saw myself crossing the finish and I am happy”
This was Jepchirchir’s first Marathon since the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the 32-year-old fell short of defending her Olympic title. Jepchirchir had won the 2020 Olympic title after cutting the tape in 2:27:20 to lead compatriot Brigid Kosgei (2:27:36) and American Molly Siedel (2:27:46). In Paris 2024, Jepchirchir fizzled out to a 14th-place finish in a race won by the Netherlands' Sifan Hassan (2:22:55).
Jepchirchir's resume, however, remains impressive, with victories in the 2021 New York Marathon (2:22:39), the 2022 Boston Marathon (2:21:01), and the 2023 London Marathon (2:16:16).
She also secured a second-place finish at the 2023 London Marathon with a time of 2:18:38. Her half-marathon achievements include three World Half Marathon titles from Cardiff 2016 (1:07:31), Gdynia 2020 (1:05:16) and Riga 2023 (1:07:25).
