Between 2019 and 2022, Peres Jepchirchir reigned supreme in the marathon world.
Unbeaten over five races, she triumphed in Saitama (2019) and Valencia (2020) before going on a historic run. First, she claimed Olympic gold in Sapporo’s oppressive heat in August 2021. Three months later, she finished first at the New York City Marathon. And in 2022, she mastered the Boston Marathon’s challenging hills to win her third 26.2-miler in nine months.
Derailed by injury
But just as Jepchirchir looked as if she might build an undeniable case to be considered the greatest female marathon runner of all time, a hip injury derailed her journey.
Forced to the sidelines, the Kenyan was not able to compete until the 2023 London Marathon. Ahead of the event, the question on every marathon fan’s lips was whether Jepchirchir could pick up where she left off. She very nearly did, coming in third in a tight finish, five seconds behind winner Sifan Hassan. It was her first-ever defeat in an international marathon, a turn of events that confounded her six-year-old daughter Natalia.
“When I was running the London Marathon, she came and asked me, ‘Why you come third place? Usually you are the winner!’” It was an understandable question, because Natalia had never seen her mother lose. “She heard people talking about me coming back from injury, then she said, ‘Mama you are [free] from injury now, you will be ok. Mama you will win!’”
Jepchirchir was “happy” with third “because I was able to train for only two months” — but the loss and her daughter’s words made her even more determined to conquer London at the next time of asking. And she did it in some style last weekend, beating a field considered one of the best ever assembled, with three of the four fastest women in history competing.
The 2024 London Marathon was run in an unseasonable chilly 7 degrees Celsius, with Jepchirchir wearing a black hat to keep warm. The temperature did not match the race pace, which was red-hot from the beginning, the lead pack eating up the first 5km in 15:44.
So it was no surprise when Jepchirchir crushed the women-only world record, joining Ingrid Kristiansen, Margaret Okayo and Edna Kiplagat as the only women to win New York, Boston, and London. Significantly, Jepchirchir is the only one among them to also win Olympic gold.
Making a statement
The 30-year-old had by far the strongest finish as she easily left world-record holder Tigst Assefa and two other rivals behind to sprint alone down the final stretch in front of Buckingham Palace.
She finished in 2 hours, 16 minutes, 16 seconds, with Assefa second and Joyciline Jepkosgei third. That was more than 4 minutes slower than Assefa’s overall women’s world record (2:11:53) set in Berlin last year, but it was the fastest time ever in a women-only marathon, beating the mark of 2:17:01 set by Mary Keitany in London in 2017.
Assefa had smashed the world record when completing the Berlin Marathon alongside male pacemakers — circumstances that typically help set a faster pace than in a women-only marathon and improve a runner’s chances of breaking the world record.
In addition to laying down a marker that she still is a force to be reckoned with, Jepchirchir put herself in a position to defend her Olympic crown. The London Marathon was the final qualifying race before Kenya’s Olympic selectors pick their team for Paris.
“This is the last event for Kenya to select the team. When I crossed the line, I knew that I was going to defend my title in Paris,” she said. “I was trying to work extra hard to defend my title in the Olympics. I am so happy to qualify for the Olympics and I feel grateful.
“It means a lot to me because last year I was expecting to win. Unfortunately, I didn’t win but I was happy too. This year I’m so so happy. I was not expecting to run a world record. I knew that we were going to break the record but I was not expecting it to be me. When I was at 40km, I said, ‘Let’s relax. And then 41km I would accelerate or wait until 600m.’”
A three-time World Half Marathon champion and the world record holder over that distance, Jepchirchir is known for her finishing kick and her knack of winning close races. Both qualities suffered a rare failure at the 2023 London Marathon, and so the triumph this year was a confidence boost for the 30-year-old.
“My strong finishing kick helps me a lot,” she said. “When I reach 800m it’s difficult to be defeated. Last year I think it [why she could not finish as she normally does] was because it was raining, I was waiting until 600m as it was windy.”
No woman has ever won two Olympic marathon titles. If Jepchirchir manages that, she will have added immeasurably to her case for being considered the greatest-ever — not a state of affairs the young girl who grew up in a remote Kenyan farm in Kosaji in Turbo ever imagined.
Rising above the odds
Jepchirchir dropped out of school because her family could not afford the fees and she saw running as a way out of the financial difficulties. “Life was not easy,” she said in an interview with Kenyan outlet KTN. “We are 24 siblings and that is why I decided to work hard because we had minimal resources at home. Small scale farming was the only source of income to our family.”
Her talent and hard work brought her to the Olympic stage, which then changed her life forever. “While I was running [in Sapporo] and approaching the finish line, I was thinking, I have raised the name of my village, the entire family to be known from nowhere. To be an Olympian is a great thing. It has brought me a lot of honour … you get more recognition as an Olympic champion.”
Having proven in London that she is very difficult to beat when healthy, Jepchirchir is looking forward to the 2024 Games. “I now know I have a great chance to defend my title in Paris,” she said. “I know it won’t be easy but I’m confident for the summer.”
