Text/Yangcheng Evening News All Media Reporter Chai Zhi WMM World Marathon Grand Slam Fall Tournament is about to begin, and the next month and a half will be held four consecutive events: Berlin (September 25), London (October 2), Chicago (October 9), and New York (November 6).

text/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Chai Zhi

WMM World Marathon Grand Slam Fall Tournament is about to begin, and the next month and a half will be held four consecutive events: Berlin (September 25), London (October 2), Chicago (October 9), and New York (November 6).

This Sunday, the "No. 1 Marathon" Kipchoge returned to the Berlin track after four years. His goal is to "break two": to set a world record of 2 hours, 1 minute and 39 seconds he held.

Berlin is a blessed land of Kipchoge

Kenya runner Kipchoge is considered the greatest marathon athlete today. He won 11 championships in the 12 marathons he participated in, and won almost all major events in recent years. On the marathon track, Kipchoge stood on the altar and Dugu Qiu was defeated.

Kipchoge seemed to be born for a marathon, with excellent physical conditions, top cardiopulmonary function, height 1.67 meters, weight 52 kilograms, and no extra fat on his body. The IAAF evaluates Kipchoge as "Marathon King".

He is the first person in the world to run a complete marathon in two hours. In the 2019 Vienna "1:59 Challenge", Kipchoger passed the finish line with 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds. This result has not been recognized by the IAAF since the competition environment, logistics supply, pace team, etc. do not meet international standards.

marathon "breaking two" is considered a great challenge to human extreme , and some sports fans even compared it to human moon landing plans. Now, Kipchoge has once again faced the opportunity to challenge himself and challenge his limits.

, founded in 1974, Berlin Marathon , has witnessed the rewritten world record of marathon seven times, and this place is also a blessed land for Kipchoge. In 2018, Kipchoger set a world record of 2 hours, 1 minutes and 39 seconds in Berlin, and won three championships and one victory in the Berlin Marathon four times. In the IAAF certified Kipchoger’s top ten personal score rankings, the first, sixth, ninth and tenth results were all created in Berlin.

Speaking of the Berlin Marathon, Kipchoger firmly believes that a wonderful race will run, "I will push myself hard, I don't like commitment, but I believe that if the weather is good enough, I can even run for two hours."

Kipchoger, who is about to turn 38 in November, has set his long-term goal for the 2024 Paris Olympics, hitting the unprecedented three consecutive Olympic championships in this event.

Two Chinese athletes look forward to breaking through

In the past Berlin marathon, Chinese athletes such as Dong Guojian, Guan Yousheng, Jia Orenjia, , Zhao Hao and other Chinese athletes have all created personal best results. This time, the two young athletes Ren Qing Dong Zhibu and He Jie will also step on the Berlin track. The two have significantly improved their performance in recent years and are considered to be the top new generation athletes of the Chinese men's marathon .

22-year-old Renqing Dongzhibu started his sports competitive career in 2018 and completed his first marathon in November 2020, but his upward momentum has been rapid in recent years: he ran a 2 hours, 17 minutes and 8 seconds in his first marathon in Nanjing in 2020; the 2021 Xuzhou marathon improved his personal best to 2 hours, 11 minutes and 54 seconds; last year, he won the championship with a 2 hours, 14 minutes and 26 seconds in the Shaanxi National Games, which is the biggest dark horse in the Chinese men's marathon.

24-year-old He Jie has been working in multiple training teams, and his results have also been gratifying in recent years: the 2020 Nanjing Marathon ran for 2 hours, 15 minutes and 33 seconds, and the 2021 Xuzhou Marathon ran for 2 hours, 12 minutes and 00 seconds.

Berlin Marathon will be another full-machine match for the two since the Hangzhou trials in April this year. They have been training in Beijing and Kenya for preparations. Head coach Su Wei set the goal of participating in the competition to be within 2 hours, 9 minutes and 40 seconds. "Berlin has a very good track. If they are in good condition on the day of the competition, they will have a chance to run within 2 hours, 9 minutes and 9 minutes. I hope Renqing Dongzhibu and He Jie will show their recent training level." (For more news, please follow Yangchengpai pai.ycwb.com)

source | Yangcheng Evening News·Yangchengpai

picture | Visual China

editor | Zhong Wenyi