World records set earlier this year by Devynne Charlton and Peres Jepchirchir have now been ratified by World Athletics.
In Glasgow on 3 March, Bahamian hurdler Charlton lowered the 60m hurdles world record to 7.65 as she secured her first global title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Charlton had previously shared the world record of 7.67 with Tia Jones of the United States. Charlton achieved that mark in New York on 11 February before Jones matched it in Albuquerque just five days later.
“This means a whole lot because I have set myself goals,” Charlton said after improving the record by another 0.02 in Glasgow. “I have not changed my technique much – just a few tweaks – but I have been working hard off the track, making sure my mental health is good and working with a sports psychologist.
“Just taking care of myself. Indoors really plays well to my skillset too.”
The following month, Kenya’s Jepchirchir also rewrote the record book as she ran 2:16:16 to improve the women-only world marathon record by 45 seconds at the TCS London Marathon.
The field for the World Athletics Platinum Label race on 21 April was widely regarded as one of the deepest and highest-quality women’s fields ever assembled and no secret had been made of the fact that breaking Mary Keitany’s women-only world record of 2:17:01 was the big target.
Ultimately, Jepchirchir was the one to achieve it. Seven women had remained in the pack as they reached the half-way point in 1:07:04 – the second-fastest half-way split ever recorded in London and a mark that put them on schedule to smash the record by almost three minutes.
Jepchirchir went on to win in 2:16:16, finishing seven seconds ahead of Tigist Assefa. Joyciline Jepkosgei was third (2:16:24) and Megertu Alemu fourth (2:16:34), making it the first marathon in which four women finished inside 2:17.
Credit: World Athletics
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