In only his second appearance over the Marathon, Geoffrey Toroitich stunned pre-race favourites Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and defending champion Tsegaye Getachew of Ethiopia to claim the Amsterdam title on Sunday in a new course record time of 2:03:30.
Toritich's time erased the previous course record time of 2:03:39 set by Ethiopia's Olympic champion Tamirat Tola in 2021.
Ethiopian's Getachew (2:04:18) and Getaneh Molla (2:04:19) completed the podium while Tanzanian Gabriel Geay (2:04:36) was fourth and Cheptegei in fifth place (2:04:52).
All eyes had been on defending champion and two-time winner Getachew, alongside double Olympic champion Cheptegei. The elite pack covered the opening 10km in 29:16, before reaching the halfway mark in 1:02:14. At 30km, seven men, among them Toroitich, Getachew, Cheptegei and Geay, were in the leading pack, going through the mark in 1:28:22.
But with three kilometres remaining, Toroitich made his decisive move, surging clear with a powerful burst, going on to maintain his momentum to the finish, sealing a famous victory and a new course record.
“I’m very happy. I felt strong and thought, let’s push. I was hoping for 2:04, so this is even better,” Toroitich said post-race. Before his appearance in Amsterdam, Toroitich's only other appearance was at the Tokyo Marathon in March, where he clocked 2:05:46 to finish sixth.
Before venturing into the full marathon, Toroitich had strong performances in the half-marathon. He has recorded back-to-back victories in Malaga 2023 (59:13) and 2024 (1:00:13). Toroitich further has victories in Hong Kong 2023 (1:01:38) and Riyadh 2022 (1:04:05). Last year, he finished runner-up in Prague, clocking 1:00:01 behind compatriot Sabastian Sawe (58:24).
He placed third in Madrid 2023, clocking 1:00:44 behind compatriots Victor Togom (1:00:04) and Charles Matata (1:00:21). Toroitich also recorded another third-place finish in Buri, Thailand, clocking 1:02:36 behind Ethiopia's Nibret Melak (1:02:32) and Alexander Munyao (1:02:34).
Getachew, meanwhile, was walking in as the defending champion, having won last year's crown in 2:05:38. Before that, he had claimed the 2022 title in 2:04:49.
Cheptegei was making only his third marathon appearance after featuring in Valencia 2023, where he placed 37th (2:08:59) and Tokyo earlier this year, where he was ninth (2:05:59). The women's race saw an all-Ethiopian podium sweep led by Anyalem Desta (2:17:37) with Bertukan Welde (2:17:56) and Mekides Shimeles (2:19:56) in second and third place.
