"BIG THREE" WOMEN TO RUN TCS LONDON MARATHON
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

(15-Jan) -- The reigning Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, the 2021 Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir, and current world record holder Ruth Chepngetich have all been contracted to run the TCS London Marathon on Sunday, April 27, organizers announced last night.

Hassan, a Dutchwoman, won the Paris 2024 Olympic Marathon in a Games record 2:22:55.  She out-sprinted then world record holder Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia  who finished three seconds behind.  Hassan also won bronze medals in the 5000m and 10,000m at the Paris Games, an unprecedented triple for a woman.

"Every moment in the race I was regretting that I ran the 5000 and 10,000," Hassan admitted that day.  "I was telling myself if I hadn't done that, I would feel great today. From the beginning to the end, it was so hard."

Hassan won the TCS London Marathon in 2023, also in a sprint finish, in her debut marathon.  She has a personal best of 2:13:44, the European record and the third-fastest of all time.

Jepchirchir, a Kenyan, won the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Marathon (held in Sapporo in 2021), and is the reigning London Marathon champion (she was also third in 2023).  Her 2024 winning time of 2:16:16 was a women-only world record, surpassing the 2:17:01 that compatriot Mary Keitany had run in London in 2017.  Jepchirchir was also the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon champion and the 2023 World Half-Marathon gold medalist.

Chepngetich, also from Kenya, won last October's Bank of America Chicago Marathon in a jaw-dropping 2:09:56, a world record.  Chepngetich, the 2019 world marathon champion, would have finished 11th had she been entered in the men's division.  Unlike Hassan and Jepchirchir, Chepngetich has yet to win the London Marathon, finishing third in her only appearance in the special COVID-safe edition held in October, 2020, in St. James's Park.

"The TCS London Marathon always brings together the best athletes in the world and I am sure this year will be as competitive as ever," Chepngetich said through a statement.  "Myself, Peres and the other women are strong, so it will be a competitive one and I want to prepare as best as I can and we will see if we can lower Peres's world record of 2:16:16 from last year. With the strength of the field, I think we can support each other and maybe the world record will fall."

Certainly, the three women will have Paula Radcliffe's absolute London Marathon women's record of 2:15:25 in mind, a mark set in a mixed-sex race in 2003.

"Ruth's world record at the Chicago Marathon last year was an incredible performance that re-defined what is possible in women's marathon running," said Spencer Barden, the TCS London Marathon elite athletes chief.  "So, we are delighted to welcome her back to the TCS London Marathon and are very excited to see her take on the Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, plus last year's champion and women's only world record holder Peres Jepchirchir here in London in what will be one of the great marathon contests."

The TCS London Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, the premiere series of global marathons.  The race reported a record 53,790 finishers in 2024 making it the fourth-largest marathon in the world.


PHOTO: Sifan Hassan after winning the 2024 Paris Olympic Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

PHOTO: Ruth Chepngetich after setting her world record at the 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

PHOTO: Peres Jepchirchir in Riga before winning the 2023 World Athletics Half-Marathon Championships (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)