It’s official: Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich is the first woman to break the 2:10 barrier in the marathon. Chepngetich set the world record time of 2:09:56 at the 2024 Chicago Marathon in October, and today, World Athletics announced that her record has been ratified, marking a new standard in women’s distance running.
In October, Chepngetich stunned the world at the Chicago Marathon, lowering the former women’s marathon record by an astounding two minutes. She won the race by seven and a half minutes (more than two kilometres) ahead of Ethiopia’s Sutume Kebede. This victory was Chepngetich’s third Chicago Marathon win in the last four years, having previously won in 2021 and 2022.
6️⃣ world records have now been ratified 👏
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) December 11, 2024
Chepngetich’s record was ratified six months more quickly than the one set by the previous world record holder, Tigst Assefa. Assefa set her record in September 2023, but her time wasn’t officially ratified until May 2024. There was no clarity from World Athletics on why Assefa’s time took longer than usual to be ratified, but given that Chepngetich’s record went through the process in two months, it’s clear there was a delay somewhere in the process.
World Athletics follows a rigorous process to ratify all world records. The key steps include course certification, timing accuracy, anti-doping tests and independent verification. Since Chepngetich’s record was set at one of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors, the course was already certified by World Athletics, but to keep the process consistent, the course is often remeasured, along with the accuracy of the timing systems.
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The anti-doping process is the longest part of the ratification process, usually taking months to obtain test results from a lab. After receiving all data, World Athletics conducts an independent verification, reviewing all submitted materials to ensure compliance with competition rules. Only after this thorough review will a record be ratified.
Like most world records in distance running, Chepngetich’s time was met with some scrutiny. At the Chicago Marathon post-race press conference, Let’sRun.com journalist and founder Robert Johnson asked Chepngetich what she would say to those who believe her time of 2:09:56 is too good to be true. The 30-year-old Kenyan marathoner responded by saying she understands how people who don’t know her might doubt her performance. The ratification confirms her jaw-dropping time was indeed legitimate.
Chepngetich’s world record was one of six ratified by the governing body for track and field on Wednesday. Also ratified were three world records set at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: the U.S. mixed 4x400m team, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s Olympic gold-medal performance in the 400m hurdles and Mondo Duplantis’s 6.25-metre pole vault, which also won gold. Additionally, Beatrice Chebet’s 28:54.14 over 10,000m and the men’s 35 km race walk record set by Japan’s Masatora Kawano were ratified.
