{"id":161030,"date":"2026-04-26T16:29:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/obiri-sets-pb-as-assefa-breaks-womens-only-record"},"modified":"2026-04-26T16:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:56:15","slug":"obiri-sets-pb-as-assefa-breaks-womens-only-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/obiri-sets-pb-as-assefa-breaks-womens-only-record","title":{"rendered":"Obiri Sets PB As Assefa Breaks Women&#8217;s-Only Record"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Kenya. <\/strong> <\/span>Kenyan distance ace Hellen Obiri delivered a scintillating run to smash her personal best, clocking 2:15:53 to finish second at the London Marathon on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Ethiopia\u2019s Tigst Assefa stole the headlines with a historic performance, obliterating her own women&#8217;s-only world record as she breasted the tape in a blistering 2:15:41.<\/p>\n<p>Assefa shaved nine seconds off her previous mark of 2:15:50, set on the same London course last year.<\/p>\n<p>Kenya\u2019s Joyciline Jepkosgei completed a breathtaking podium sweep, clocking 2:15:55.<\/p>\n<p>Obiri, making her much-anticipated debut on the London course, showcased her growing authority over the marathon distance, adding another stellar chapter to a resume already brimming with elite performances on American soil.<\/p>\n<p>The former world track champion has carved a reputation as a ruthless competitor on the roads, boasting back-to-back victories at the Boston Marathon in 2023 (2:21:38) and 2024 (2:22:37).<\/p>\n<p>She has also reigned supreme twice at the New York City Marathon, conquering the Big Apple in 2023 (2:27:23) and again in 2025, where she stormed to a course record of 2:19:51.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond her victories, Obiri has remained a consistent force at the sharp end of the field, finishing runner-up in Boston 2025 (2:17:14) and New York 2024 (2:24:49).<\/p>\n<p>In the build-up to London, Obiri had already fired a warning shot, claiming victory at the New York Half Marathon with a course record 1:06:33, outkicking compatriot Sharon Lokedi (1:07:10) and Britain\u2019s Megan Keith (1:07:13).<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Jepkosgei returned to familiar territory in London, where she famously struck gold in 2021, cutting the tape in 2:17:43 ahead of Ethiopia\u2019s Degitu Azimeraw (2:17:58) and Ashete Bekere (2:18:18).<\/p>\n<p>A model of consistency on the London streets, Jepkosgei has remained a perennial podium threat, finishing third in 2024 and securing runner-up spots in 2022 and 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Kenya<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Kenya. Kenyan distance ace Hellen Obiri delivered a scintillating run to smash her personal best, clocking 2:15:53 to finish second at the London Marathon on Sunday. Ethiopia\u2019s Tigst Assefa stole the headlines with a historic performance, obliterating her own women&#8217;s-only world record as she breasted the tape in a blistering 2:15:41. Assefa shaved [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":161029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[544],"class_list":["post-161030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Obiri Sets PB As Assefa Breaks Women&#039;s-Only Record - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Kenya. Kenyan distance ace Hellen Obiri ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/obiri-sets-pb-as-assefa-breaks-womens-only-record\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obiri Sets PB As Assefa Breaks Women&#039;s-Only Record\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Kenya. 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