Africa-Press – Uganda. A decent yet not perfect performance was expected of Jacob Kiplimo from his 42km debut at the London Marathon in the English capital on Sunday.
However, Kiplimo only showed that his prowess on the road knows no boundaries after he finely fitted into the elite class to power to a stellar second place at the Abbott World Marathon Major (WMM).
The 24-year-old displayed no sign of stage fright and carried on the weight of expectation from his backers to produce a time of two hours, three minutes and 37 seconds.
Some 70 seconds earlier, Kenyan Sabastian Sawe had sealed the victory in London of that elite men’s race in a time of 2:02:27.
And what a debut for Kiplimo! “I am grateful to the amazing crowd,” the man who raced on light green shoes happily told the English media.
“When I saw the time, 2:03, I was happy because it was my debut and I was just trying to stay with the group,” he added after producing the fastest marathon debut ever by a Ugandan.
Unlike the elite women’s race where eventual winner Ethiopian Tigst Assefa and runner-up Joyciline Jepkosgei peeled away pretty early, a lead group of 10 men formed the major part of the conversation on the London streets.
Kiplimo arrived in London on the back of a world record (WR) half-marathon victory in Barcelona, Spain in February. The records further show he is the fastest ever over 15km and on the 10km distance, he is ranked sixth best ever.
The Nike-sponsored runner had never gone over the 42km distance and still knew he would be in the shadow of the other big men; defending champion Kenyan Alexander Mutiso, four-time winner Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, Sawe and Olympic champion Ethiopian Tamirat Tola.
And true to it, Kiplimo kept at the back of the lead group, in tenth and two seconds as Kipchoge, Sawe and Ethiopian Milkesa Mengesha crossed 15km in 43 minutes and 46 seconds.
German runner Amanal Petros led the group at halfway stage, crossing in 1:01:30 with Kiplimo a second adrift in eighth place of the pack.
With 10km to go, Sawe – Kiplimo’s familiar foe at the 21km – broke away from the classy runners including Kipchoge and Tola, yet only the Ugandan seemed to reply to the act.
The 30-year-old Sawe, champion at the Valencia Marathon in Spain last December, held on to win his second marathon in a space of five months.
Mutiso needed to hold off Dutch man Abdi Nageeye to finish third despite both clocking 2:04:20. Tola posted 2:04:42 in fifth while Kipchoge received applause despite posting 2:05:25.
For Kiplimo to beat the aforementioned marathon bigwigs on debut, it sent a message and further stretched the debate that the 24-year-old has gears to definitely push the limits and lower the marathon WR mark of 2:00:35 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum at the Chicago Marathon in the USA on October 8, 2023.
Kiplimo, who also received applause from his senior compatriot Joshua Cheptegei who had also won the Bengaluru 10K in India, erased the previous national record (NR) mark held by Stephen Kissa at 2:04:48 at the 2022 Hamburg Marathon in Germany.
He is now ranked number one of the list of Ugandan men qualified for the Tokyo World Athletics Championships due mid-September after beating the qualifying standard of 2:06:30.
Owing to his prowess and by becoming the first Ugandan to run a marathon under two hours and four minutes, Kiplimo will be lured for other fast WMM events like the Berlin Marathon in Germany this September or the Chicago Marathon in October or the New York Marathon in the USA in November.
Meanwhile, another Ugandan Stella Chesang was sixth in the women’s race with a time of 2:22:42. Olympic silver medallist Assefa, who had broken away from Jepkosgei with 10km to go, won in a women’s only WR mark of 2:15:50.
Jepkosgei took second in 2:18:43 ahead of Dutch Sifan Hassan, who clocked 2:18:59.
2025 LONDON MARATHON
ELITE MEN’S RESULT
1 Sabastian Sawe (KEN) 2:02:27
2 Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) 2:03:37
3 Alexander Mutiso (KEN) 2:04:20
4 Abdi Nageeye (NED) 2:04:20
5 Tamirat Tola (ETH) 2:04:42
6 Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) 2:05:25
ELITE WOMEN’S RESULT
1 Tigst Assefa (ETH) 2:15:50
2 Joyciline Jepkosgei (KEN) 2:18:43
3 Sifan Hassan (NED) 2:18:59
4 Haven Hailu Desse (ETH) 2:19:17
5 Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) 2:22:32
6 Stella Chesang (UGA) 2:22:42
UGANDA’S FASTEST MARATHONERS
BEST TIME BY ATHLETE
2:03:37 by Jacob Kiplimo at London Marathon on Apr 27, 2025
2:04:48 by Stephen Kissa at Hamburg Marathon on Apr 24, 2022
2:05:09 by Victor Kiplangat at Hamburg Marathon on Apr 24, 2022
2:05:12 by Filex Chemongesi at Toronto Marathon on Oct 20, 2019
2:05:59 by Joshua Cheptegei at Tokyo Marathon on Mar 2, 2025
2:06:33 by Stephen Kiprotich at Tokyo Marathon on Feb 22, 2015
KIPLIMO AT A GLANCE
Date of birth: November 14, 2000
Major events: 5000m, 10000m, Half-Marathon, Marathon
Coach: Iacorpo Brasi, Peter Chelangat
Personal Bests: 12:40.96 (5000m), 26:33.93 (10000m), 56:42 (21km), 2:03:37 (Marathon)
Manager: Federico Rosa
Management: Rosa Associati
KIPLIMO’S 21KM CAREER
Feb 16, 2025: Barcelona Half-Marathon (1st, 56:42)
Sept 15, 2024: Copenhagen Half-Marathon (2nd, 57:31)
Mar 18, 2023: New York Half-Marathon (1st, 61:31)
Sept 11, 2022: Great North Run (1st, 59:33)
Feb 19, 2022: Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon (1st, 57:56)
Nov 21, 2021: Lisbon Half-Marathon (1st, 57:31)
Dec 6, 2020: Valencia Half-Marathon (2nd, 57:37)
Oct 17, 2020: World Half-Marathon (1st, 58:49)
Nov 24, 2019: Kampala Half-Marathon (1st, 61:53)
ROAD TO TOKYO 2025 WORLD CHAMPS – UGANDAN MARATHONERS
MEN’S QUALIFICATION
1 Jacob Kiplimo (London Marathon, 2nd, 2:03:37, Apr 27, 2025)
2 Joshua Cheptegei (Tokyo Marathon, 9th, 2:05:59, Mar 2, 2024)
2 Stephen Kissa (Osaka Marathon, 2nd, 2:06:22, Feb 25, 2024)
3 Victor Kiplangat (Wild Card Entry as reigning World Champion)
Entry Standard: 2:06:30, Qualifying window: Nov 5, 2023 – May 4, 2025
WOMEN’S QUALIFICATION
1 Stella Chesang (Valencia Marathon, 2nd, 2:18:26 on Dec 1, 2024)
Entry Standard: 2:23:30, Qualifying window: Nov 5, 2023 – May 4, 2025
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
