Eliud Kipchoge has become the first athlete to run a marathon in less than two hours, although it will not count as a world record.
The Olympic champion and world record holder from Kenya clocked 1 hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds Saturday at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, an event set up for the attempt.
Kipchoge was supported by 36 pacemakers who accompanied him in alternating groups, one of the reasons the IAAF will not ratify the time as a world record.
Marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya, white vest, and his first pacemaking team run on the Reichsbrucke during the INEOS 1:59 Challenge attempt to run a sub two-hour marathon in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019. (AP PhotoRonald Zak)
Running at a consistent average pace of 2:50 minutes per kilometer (4:33.5 minutes per mile), Kipchoge was 11 seconds ahead of schedule halfway through his run.
The pacemakers left him for the final 500 meters, and Kipchoge punched his chest twice in celebration when he finished.
The Prater park in the Austrian capital offered long straights, protected from the wind by high trees, for most of the 9.6-kilometer course, which Kipchoge completed more than 4 times.
In this photo made available by The INEOS 1:59 Challenge on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019, Eliud Kipchoge, white vest, runs past the Lusthaus with his pacemaking team in Vienna, Austria. Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019, during his attempt to run a sub two-hour marathon.(Andrew Baker The INEOS 1:59 Challenge via AP)
It was his second attempt at breaking the two-hour barrier, after missing out by 26 seconds at a similar event on the Formula One track in Monza, Italy, in May 2017.
Kipchoge, who took Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and has won 10 of his 11 marathons, holds the official world record of 2:01:39 since shattering the previous best mark by 78 seconds in Berlin last year.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant left what ended up being his final game with the Brooklyn Nets after getting hurt similar to the way Nikola Jokic just was.
In fact, Durant missed time two seasons in a row with a knee injury caused when someone fell into his leg.
“One thing I don’t want to see with Nikola is like, they started calling me ‘injury prone’ after that, but hopefully they don’t start with him because it’s one of those freak injuries that you can't really control,” Durant said Thursday night after the Rockets beat the Nets 120-96 in his return to Brooklyn.
“You can do all the work you can, but somebody falls into your knee, that’s just tough.”
Jokic, the three-time NBA MVP, was hurt Monday night in Miami when Denver teammate Spencer Jones stepped on the center's left foot while defending a drive by Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. as time was about to expire in the second quarter. Jokic’s knee buckled a bit and he collapsed to the court, grabbing at the knee.
The Nuggets said Tuesday he will be evaluated again in four weeks.
Durant sprained the medial collateral ligament of his left knee in January 2022 when teammate Bruce Brown was knocked backward and fell into his knee. He ended up missing 21 games with that injury.
Then, Durant was hurt on the same court as Jokic when then-Heat star Jimmy Butler fell backward into his right knee in a Jan. 8, 2023, game, causing another sprained ligament. He never played again for the Nets, who traded him to Phoenix a month later. He finally got on the court for the Suns in March after a 20-game absence.
Jokic's injury was a hyperextension, perhaps allowing him to return more quickly.
“So it’s good to see it’s only four weeks and it’s not anything too big,” Durant said. “It wasn’t an MCL sprain or Level 2, it felt like it was just a tweak and he’s going to be back out there soon. He’s great for the game and you want to see the best players on the floor at all times.”
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Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) walks on the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) handles the ball against Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
