Eliud Kipchoge has become the first person to run a marathon in under 2 hours, breaking the totemic milestone by 20 seconds.
A previous effort by the Kenya runner two years ago fell short by 25 seconds, but on Saturday in Vienna he ended smiling and pointing to the crowd as he accelerated through his final kilometre to finish in 01:59:40.
The feat won鈥檛 be recognised as an official world marathon record because it wasn鈥檛 a race and the elite athlete was assisted by a pace car and a rotating team of 41 pacemakers.
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However, it is a historic achievement that also shows how far and fast sports science has come. 鈥淢any of the leading scientists didn鈥檛 really see [a sub-2 hour marathon] happening for the next couple of years,鈥� says Stephen Mears at Loughborough University, UK.
The marathon record was just under 3 hours at the start of the 20th century, but that quickly fell in the following decades due to improvements in technology, training and nutrition, says Mears. in part because of interval training, for example.
There have been other developments too, such as a developing grasp of the role our minds play in capping athletic performance.
鈥淎nd then,鈥� says Mears, 鈥測ou get a once-in-a-lifetime athlete like Kipchoge.鈥� He has superb VO2 max 鈥� the maximum amount of oxygen the body can take on 鈥� and exceptional running economy, meaning he uses energy extremely efficiently.
Kipchoge鈥檚 second effort at sub-2 hours involved small improvements to many different aspects of the race, says Mears. The formation of pacers around him was precisely tweaked, the car slightly further ahead than before. The drinking strategy was different, the weather better, the course flatter, his shoes slightly modified 鈥� and this time there was a supporting crowd.
There is also probably a psychological aspect, Mears adds. Before Kipchoge鈥檚 2017 attempt, his previous record was more than 2 minutes off the 2-hour mark. 鈥淵ou go into it a second time, you know you鈥檙e only 25 seconds away,鈥� says Mears.
It is more likely now that the sub 2-hour mark will be hit in a race, says Mears, who thinks humans can go faster still over the iconic marathon distance: marginal gains in technology, including athlete鈥檚 shoes, nutrition and physiology, will all help. 鈥淚 think we can go quicker,鈥� says Mears.
Kipchoge鈥檚 feat wasn鈥檛 the only running milestone this weekend. Kenya鈥檚 Brigid Kosgei set a women鈥檚 world record of 02:14:04, beating Paula Radcliffe鈥檚 previous record set in 2003.
