Marathons at the World Athletics Championships
The marathon at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. It is the second most prestigious global title in the discipline after the marathon at the Olympics. From 1997 to 2011 it hosted the World Marathon Cup team event. It currently forms part of the World Marathon Majors circuit, which includes the six top annual races. The competition format has separate men's and women's races, which both serve as a straight final. Participation typically numbers between sixty and eighty runners per race. The event usually starts and ends in the main stadium, with the rest of the race taking place on the surrounding roads of the host city.
| Marathon at the World Athletics Championships | |
|---|---|
Women starting the 2013 marathon on the track | |
| Overview | |
| Gender | Men and women |
| Years held | Men: 1983 – 2023 Women: 1983 – 2023 |
| Championship record | |
| Men | 2:05:36 Tamirat Tola (2022) |
| Women | 2:18:11 Gotytom Gebreslase (2022) |
| Reigning champion | |
| Men | Victor Kiplangat (UGA) |
| Women | Amane Beriso Shankule (ETH) |
The championship records for the event are 2:06:54 hours for men, set by Abel Kirui in 2009, and 2:20:57 hours for women, set by Paula Radcliffe in 2005.[1] The world record has never been broken or equalled at the competition by either men or women, reflecting the lack of pacemaking and athletes' more tactical approach to championship races.[2]
Catherine Ndereba and Edna Kiplagat are the most successful athletes of the event, having each won two gold medals and one silver medal in the women's marathon. In addition, Kiplagat finished top five in five consecutive World Athletics Championship Marathons from 2011-2019. Three other athletes have won the World Championships marathon twice: Abel Antón, Jaouad Gharib, and Abel Kirui – all of whom along with Edna Kiplagat had back-to-back victories.
Kenya is the most successful nation in the discipline, having won ten gold medals overall (five in each division). Ethiopia is the next most successful, with six gold medallists. Spain has won three gold medals.
Age records
- All information from World Athletics.[3]
| Distinction | Male | Female | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athlete | Age | Date | Athlete | Age | Date | |
| Youngest champion | Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (ERI) | 19 years, 281 days | 22 Aug 2015 | Bai Xue (CHN) | 20 years, 251 days | 23 Aug 2009 |
| Youngest medalist | Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (ERI) | 19 years, 281 days | 22 Aug 2015 | Bai Xue (CHN) | 20 years, 251 days | 23 Aug 2009 |
| Youngest finalist | Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (ERI) | 19 years, 281 days | 22 Aug 2015 | Kim Hye-Gyong (PRK) | 20 years, 154 days | 10 Aug 2013 |
| Youngest participant | Ahmed Hassan (SOM) | 18 years, 187 days | 3 Aug 2001 | Su Su-Ning (TPE) | 14 years, 274 days | 15 Aug 1993 |
| Oldest champion | Abel Antón (ESP) | 36 years, 308 days | 28 Aug 1999 | Catherine Ndereba (KEN) | 35 years, 43 days | 2 Sep 2007 |
| Oldest medalist | Abel Antón (ESP) | 36 years, 308 days | 28 Aug 1999 | Helalia Johannes (NAM) | 39 years, 46 days | 28 Sep 2019 |
| Oldest finalist | Ruggero Pertile (ITA) | 41 years, 14 days | 22 Aug 2015 | Roberta Groner (USA) | 41 years, 267 days | 28 Sep 2019 |
| Oldest participant | Patrick Dupouy (PYF) | 46 years, 85 days | 5 Aug 1995 | Colleen de Reuck (USA) | 47 years, 136 days | 27 Aug 2011 |
Patrick Dupouy of French Polynesia became the oldest male competitor of World Championships history in 2007, at the age of 46 years and 85 days.[4] Under current regulations, the records for the youngest participants will remain indefinitely as any athlete in the junior category (under-20) that year, or younger, is ineligible to enter the marathon.[5]
Doping
The first doping ban to effect the World Championships marathon came in 2001, when Italy's Roberto Barbi (60th in the men's race) was disqualified. Original eighth-placer Nailiya Yulamanova was disqualified from the 2009 women's race and another Russian, Mikhail Lemayev, had his result annulled from the men's race that year. Biological passport irregularities saw Abderrahim Goumri's runs in 2009 and 2011 retrospectively annulled.[6] The anti-doping programme at the 2013 championships saw Jeremías Saloj disqualified from the men's race for doping.[7]
Medalists
Men
Multiple medalists
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Period | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abel Antón | Spain (ESP) | 1997–1999 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jaouad Gharib | Morocco (MAR) | 2003–2005 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Abel Kirui | Kenya (KEN) | 2009–2011 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 4 | Martín Fiz | Spain (ESP) | 1995–1997 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Lelisa Desisa | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2013-2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Tamirat Tola | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2017-2022 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 7 | Hussein Ahmed Salah | Djibouti (DJI) | 1987–1991 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Mosinet Geremew | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2019–2022 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 9 | Stefano Baldini | Italy (ITA) | 2001–2003 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Medalists by country
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenya (KEN) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3 | 6 | 4 | 13 |
| 3 | Spain (ESP) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Morocco (MAR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Uganda (UGA) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 6 | Japan (JPN) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | Australia (AUS) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | United States (USA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Eritrea (ERI) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Djibouti (DJI) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 12 | Tanzania (TAN) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Mexico (MEX) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Israel (ISR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Namibia (NAM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Qatar (QAT) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 16 | Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| East Germany (GDR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Women
Multiple medalists
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Period | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catherine Ndereba | Kenya (KEN) | 2003–2007 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Edna Kiplagat | Kenya (KEN) | 2011–2017 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | Manuela Machado | Portugal (POR) | 1993–1997 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Lidia Șimon | Romania (ROU) | 1997–2001 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Reiko Tosa | Japan (JPN) | 2001–2007 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Medalists by country
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenya (KEN) | 5 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
| 2 | Ethiopia (ETH) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Japan (JPN) | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 4 | Portugal (POR) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Romania (ROU) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | Bahrain (BHR) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | China (CHN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Great Britain (GBR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| North Korea (PRK) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Norway (NOR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Poland (POL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 12 | Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Soviet Union (URS) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| United States (USA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 15 | France (FRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Israel (ISR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Morocco (MAR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Namibia (NAM) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Russia (RUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Championship record progression
Men
| Time | Athlete | Nation | Year | Round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:10:03 | Robert De Castella | Australia (AUS) | 1983 | Final | 14 August |
| 2:08:31 | Jaouad Gharib | Morocco (MAR) | 2003 | Final | 30 August |
| 2:06:54 | Abel Kirui | Kenya (KEN) | 2009 | Final | 22 August |
| 2:05:36 | Tamirat Tola | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2022 | Final | 17 July |
Women
| Time | Athlete | Nation | Year | Round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:28:08 | Grete Waitz | Norway (NOR) | 1983 | Final | 7 August |
| 2:25:17 | Rosa Mota | Portugal (POR) | 1987 | Final | 29 August |
| 2:23:55 | Catherine Ndereba | Kenya (KEN) | 2003 | Final | 31 August |
| 2:20:57 | Paula Radcliffe | Great Britain (GBR) | 2005 | Final | 14 August |
| 2:18.11 | Gotytom Gebreslase | Ethiopia (ETH) | 2022 | Final | 18 July |
Finishing times
Top ten fastest World Championship times
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References
- Championships Records. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
- IAAF World Championships: IAAF Statistics Handbook Daegu 2011, pp. 595–6 (archived). IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-07-06.
- "World Athletics Championships - Budapest 23 Statistical Booklet" (PDF). www.worldathletics.org: 42–45.
- Butler 2013, p. 34–7.
- Technical Regulations for the IAAF World Championships (Updated January 2015). IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-16.
- Butler 2013, p. 67–9.
- More than 1900 blood samples collected – Moscow 2013. IAAF (2013-09-20). Retrieved on 2015-08-16.
- Main > Men, marathon > World Championships Records Progression. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2015-07-07.
- Main > Women, marathon > World Championships Records Progression. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2015-07-07.
- "Men's marathon".
- "Women's marathon".
Bibliography
- Butler, Mark (2013). IAAF Statistics Book Moscow 2013 (PDF). IAAF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2014.