Kelvin Kiptum, a rising star in the world of marathon running, achieved an extraordinary feat on Sunday, breaking the marathon world record at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. The 23-year-old’s remarkable performance saw him clock a sensational time of 2:00:35, surpassing Eliud Kipchoge‘s previous record by an impressive 34 seconds.

In an interview with Olympics.com ahead of the event, Kiptum expressed his ambition, stating, “In the future, I know I can run two hours.” He then turned his words into reality on the streets of Chicago.

At the early stages of the race, seven runners and a group of pacemakers formed a lead pack, setting an electrifying pace. However, it was only Kelvin Kiptum and Daniel Kibet Mateiko who remained in touch with a sole pacemaker just over 5 kilometers into the race.

As they reached the halfway point at 1:00:48, it seemed that Kiptum might be falling behind the world record pace. But his determination and strength became evident when he made a decisive move with 10 kilometers to go, reigniting hopes of breaking Eliud Kipchoge’s record, set in Berlin the previous year.

A remarkable 5 kilometers stretch from 30-35km, clocked at 13:51, put Kiptum on a trajectory to finish under 2:01. Astonishingly, Kiptum ran a negative split, completing the second half-marathon in 59:47.

WORLD RECORD: We have a new man in town. Kelvin Kiptum just broke Eliud Kipchoge’s World Record with an unofficial time of 2:00:35! UNBELIEVABLE! pic.twitter.com/XfeMEzPveZ

— Chicago Marathon (@ChiMarathon) October 8, 2023

In his post-race interview, an elated Kiptum stated, “I feel so happy. I was prepared. I knew I was coming for a course record, but fortunately [it was] a world record,” Kiptum said in a post-race interview.

“A world record was not in my mind today, but I knew one time, one day I’d be a world record holder.”

The defending champion, Benson Kipruto, finished second with a time of 2:04:02, while Belgium’s Bashir Abdi secured the third spot, crossing the finish line 30 seconds behind.