Boston (United States) (AFP)

Kenyan Diana Chemtai Kipyogei (2:24:45) in the ladies and her compatriot Benson Kipruto (2:09:51) in the men won the Boston Marathon solo on Monday, their first victory in a career major marathon.

The Boston Marathon had not taken place since April 2019 after a cancellation in 2020 and then postponed to the spring due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Aged 27, Kipyogei accelerated violently after 1h44 of the race, while the peloton had remained grouped until then.

It was only the third attempt on the distance for Kipyogei after the 42.195 km of Ljubljana in 2019 (3rd) and those of Istanbul in 2020 (victory).

She won solo in front of her compatriots Edna Kiplagat (2:25:09) and Mary Wacera Ngugi (2:25:20).

Edna Kiplagat achieves the feat of getting on the podium of a major marathon at 41 (she turns 42 on November 15) and extends an international career that began 25 years ago with a silver medal at the World Juniors over 3,000 m in Sydney in 1996.

In the meantime, Kiplagat became two-time world marathon champion in 2011 and 2013, and won three "majors": New York in 2010, Chicago in 2014 and Boston in 2017.

The men's race was dominated by his compatriot Benson Kipruto, who also won his first victory over a "major" (Berlin, Tokyo, London, Boston, Chicago, New York) at 30 years old.

Kipruto arrived solo with a sharp attack at kilometer 37 to overtake Ethiopians Lemi Berhanu (2:10:37) and Jemal Yimer Mekonnen (2:10:38).

Kipruto had finished 7th in London last year and remained on a victory in Prague in May, so he validates his progress in Boston.

The American outsider CJ Albertson led the race alone in the lead for 32 km (1h43), with up to more than two minutes ahead of the favorites, before paying for his quick start in the climbs that make the second half of the race the ordeal.

He finally took tenth place.

Benson Kipruto crosses the finish line as the winner of the 125th Boston Marathon, October 11, 2021 Maddie Malhotra Getty / AFP

For both men and women, the stars of the discipline (Eliud Kipchoge, Brigid Kosgei, Kenenisa Bekele ...) were absent in the heart of an autumn 2021 offering a high density of marathons, several spring events having been postponed in end of year.

© 2021 AFP