Marathon: Ruth Chepngetich’s record sparks debate

Peter Herzog’s name has lately been mentioned more often than he would have liked. The fact that he was the fastest marathon runner Austria has ever known, with his time of 2:10:06, was not the point. What was, Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich crossed the finish line in 2:09:56 in Chicago about three weeks ago.

She thus shattered the women’s world record, which was already considered eternal, of 1′ 57”. The fact that the 30-year-old is faster than established professionals like Peter Herzog has broken a taboo in the world of running.

Amby Burfoot, winner of the legendary 1968 Boston Marathon and longtime editor of the running bible “Runner’s World,” expressed this taboo. “Why it’s hard to trust Ruth Chepngetich’s world record,” was the headline in an opinion article. All the experts agreed (women seem to be less concerned about this topic). This is the most incredible time ever achieved by a human being over this 42.195 km race.

“I am outraged”

This brings us back to Amby Burfoot. He said: “I am outraged.” A real indictment followed, in which the word “doping” certainly did not appear, but where everyone understood what it meant. His quintessence: “We don’t have proof, but we know what we know.”

The fact that a renowned, respected and appreciated figure in the industry like Amby Burfoot publicly accused Ruth Chepngetich of doping – without being able to present facts, only clues – is a broken taboo. Athletics nerds usually indulge in such statements in the comments of their favorite portals. But let a leader in the sector express his opinion in an indictment on a major platform (marathonhandbook.com) opens up a whole new dimension. Others followed suit.

Reactions followed, even from the Kenyan parliament. (Old) white men say what a young black woman can or cannot do, we heard, including accusations of racism. Ruth Chepngetich is simply a talented woman who achieved a sensational time thanks to intense and well-thought-out training, her defenders said.

But the situation is not that simple. So back to Peter Herzog. The fact that professional runners like him are slower than Ruth Chepngetich is unusual – to put it mildly. Or as Amby Burfoot said, outraged: on average, women’s world records in running disciplines are 10 to 11% slower than men’s – over a now very large sample. This means that even the decimal places after the decimal point are important. Ruth Chepngetich, however, was only 7.75% slower than marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum (2:00:35). From a statistical point of view, this amounts to an almost miraculous difference.

The manager who attracts attention

The fact that she is, at 30, an experienced marathon runner makes her performance astonishing. His previous best time was 2h 14′ 18”. She improved it by 4′ 22”. Other professional athletes are already happy to shave a few seconds off their best time.

His detractors mainly pointed the finger at his manager, Federico Rosa. The Italian is one of the leading agents in the world of running and has represented more than one Kenyan celebrity convicted of doping. Among them, we find Rita Jeptoo, five-time champion of the Boston and Chicago Marathons, Jemima Sumgong, Olympic champion in 2016, and Asbel Kiprop, three-time world champion in the 1500 meters.

But her ties to Federico Rosa are not proof of possible cheating by Ruth Chepngetich. At most, this indicates that she apparently has no problem collaborating with him.

This is why one of the most interesting theories once again comes from Canadian publicist Alex Hutchinson. Her article “Why the Running World Can’t Stop Debating Ruth Chepngetich’s New Marathon Record” is a wealth of information. Alex Hutchinson underlines, with supporting studies, that women undoubtedly benefit more than men from super shoes as they have been used since 2016.

For one simple reason: women are on average smaller than men, so they take more steps over 42,195 km – and therefore benefit more from these carbon shoes with superfoam. These allow athletes to tire less quickly and train more intensely (while recovering faster).

Ruth Chepngetich wore her sponsor’s latest model in Chicago. But firstly, it had already raced with a previous model, and therefore with similar technology, but never this fast. And secondly, Alex Hutchinson’s indications do not explain why Ruth Chepngetich would be the only top runner to have made such a leap forward with these super shoes.

Alex Hutchinson therefore concludes this heated debate with an unsatisfactory observation: “We simply don’t know how to explain Ruth Chepngetich’s world record.”

Christian Brüngger is a journalist. He joined the sports column at the age of 23, traveled the (sports) world for a long time and, after the birth of his first son, sat in his office chair more and more often. He likes to write on the border between sport and society. Studied history and cinema sciences in Zurich.More info

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