Competition for marathon team places will be a lot stiffer, Olympic champion says

Competition for places in Kenya’s marathon team to next year’s World Championships in London will be a lot stiffer with the improved performances by Kenyan women on the road, Olympic marathon champion Jemimah Sumgong has predicted.

Sumgong says the April marathons in Boston, London, Rotterdam and Paris will be key for Athletics Kenya selectors and maintained she will be back in London next year to defend her title.

The Olympic champion spoke after joining hundreds of elite athletes and fans in a Chicago Marathon viewing party at Tortoise Hotel in Kapsabet on Sunday.

“I don’t know which races for now that my other friends will run next year but I will return to London to defend my title. It will be really difficult to select the Kenyan team for the World Championships because many ladies are doing well. Like Florence proved in Chicago today, Kenya now has a huge depth of talent,” Sumgong said.

Defending champion Florence Kiplagat took control of Sunday’s Chicago race with 12 kilometres to go, defending the title she won last year. Kiplagat won in two hours, 21 minutes and 32 seconds, more than two minutes faster than her winning time of 2:23:33 last year, when she waited until 40 kilometres to take control.

Her neighbour in Iten, Edna Kiplagat (2:23:28) finished second with two other Kenyans Valentine Kipketer (2:23:41) and Purity Rionoripo (2:24:47) completing the Kenyan sweep.

The men’s race was also a Kenyan sweep, with two-time world champion Abel Kirui 2:11:23 beating defending champion Dickson Chumba (2:11:26) in a battle of mind games to win. Gideon Kipketer (2:12:20) was third, Paul Lonyangata (2:13:17) fourth and Stephen Sambu (2:13:35) fifth.