It is a monument in the history of sport that fell on Saturday, October 12, in Vienna. At the age of 34, marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge managed to cross the mythical two hour mark on the queen distance, clocking a time of 1: 59.40.
A symbolic performance since it will not erase his previous world record (2: 01.39), the International Athletics Federation having already planned that it would not homologize a possible historical performance. This did not stop him from warmly congratulating the athlete after his performance.
1:59:40!
Congratulations @EliudKipchoge # Eliud159 https://t.co/76goK6Geka
The very special conditions in which the race took place were: a flat and wind-protected course, a leading car to set the pace of the race, and 41 "hares" which provided the tempo to lead Kipchoge. on the basis of this unprecedented performance.
"We made history together," said the marathon runner at the end of the race, followed by several thousand people on the roadside. In 2017, already at the initiative of sponsors, Kipchoge had attacked the "wall of two hours". On a course already optimized for this performance, in Monza, Italy, he missed the goal to 26 seconds.