London: Fierce rivalries, rather than tumbling times, are key to maintaining the appeal of elite marathons, defending London champion Wilson Kipsang said of his showdown with world record holder Dennis Kimetto on Sunday (April 26).
Wilson Kipsang
Dubbed the ‘clash of the champions’ by race organisers, Kimetto, who clocked a world best two hours, two minutes, 57 seconds in September’s Berlin Marathon, will make his London debut while fellow Kenyan Kipsang is seeking a third title after winning in 2012 and 2014.
A stellar London lineup is dominated by Kenyans, including Emmanuel Mutai, the 2011 London winner who ran the second-quickest time ever (2:03.13) when finishing runner-up to Kimetto in Berlin, and Stanley Biwott, another sub-2:05 runner, who finished second to Kipsang last year.
With five of the all-time top-10 and eight sub-2:05 men in the field the race looks unlikely to become a solo time trial often seen at lucrative big-city marathons around the world.
“I think it is sometimes more interesting to have guys like this racing in one race,” Kipsang told a news conference on Thursday held in a hotel at Tower Bridge, the iconic halfway mark of the race.
“When I go to a race I win and then he goes to another race and he wins, so sometimes it’s not much interesting for the sport. But when we are together people can really see and can really see the potential for the athletes, and it’s much more easy because you find that sometimes, with this kind of field, you find that there’s a high potential of many guys coming close to the finish line, which I think is more interesting.”
Kimetto, who broke Kipsang’s 2013 world record by 26 seconds, averaged a scarcely credible four minutes 41 seconds per mile in Berlin to become the first man to run under two hours three minutes.
Another world record on Sunday is unlikely, however, as the twists and turns of London’s streets make for tougher going compared to the flat, wide-roads of Berlin.
Ventuno/Reuters