Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge outsprinted defending champion Wilson Kipsang to win the closest men’s race at the Virgin Money London Marathon for eight years.
Eliud Kipchoge finished 13 seconds outside Wilson Kipsang’s course record time (2:04:29) from 2014 in 2:04:42, the third fastest time on the famous course.
Kipsang had taken the New York title with a sprint finish six months ago, but this time it was the stockier, more punchy Kipchoge who had the edge, the former world 5000m champion clinching victory in the last half mile to deny the two-time winner his London hat-trick.
#Kenya sweep of 2015 #LondonMarathon men’s race. @EliudKipchoge wins in 2:04:42 & Wilson @Kipsang_2_03_23 (2:04:47) pic.twitter.com/R7W42JfeeL
— Athletics Africa (@athleticsafrica) April 26, 2015
The pair had been locked together for nearly 26 miles, but there was to be no repeat of the inaugural winners’ hand-in-hand gesture from 35 years ago as Kipchoge finally broke the champion’s resolve to win by five seconds, handing Kipsang his first defeat in four races.
World record holder Dennis Kimetto was prominent throughout, but had to be satisfied with third in 2:05:50, nearly three minutes outside his barrier-breaking world record from Berlin last September, while last year’s runner-up Stanley Biwott was fourth to complete the Kenyan sweep.
Top Ten – Men Results
| Place | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) | 02:04:42 |
| 2 | Wilson Kipsang (KEN) | 02:04:47 |
| 3 | Dennis Kimetto (KEN) | 02:05:50 |
| 4 | Stanley Biwott (KEN) | 02:06:41 |
| 5 | Tilahun Regassa (ETH) | 02:07:16 |
| 6 | Samuel Kitwara (KEN) | 02:07:16 |
| 7 | Javier Guerra (ESP) | 02:09:33 |
| 8 | Ghebre Kibrom (ERI) | 02:09:36 |
| 9 | Aleksey Reunkov (RUS) | 02:10:10 |
| 10 | Serhiy Lebid (UKR) | 02:10:21 |