Mo Farah bows out as London Marathon record smashed by Kenyan athlete Kelvin Kiptum
23 April 2023, 16:56 | Updated: 24 April 2023, 01:22
A Kenyan runner has smashed the course record for the London Marathon as Sir Mo Farah competed in the race for the final time.
Kelvin Kiptum, 23, won the men's event with the second-fastest marathon in history, finishing with a time of 2:01.27.
But Kiptum he tired towards the end and missed out on the world record, set by Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin last year, by 18 seconds.
The women's elite race had a surprise winner in Sifan Hassan, who was making her marathon debut.
Her win came despite appearing to run into difficulties after close to an hour of running, as she clutched her hip and fell behind.
Sir Mo, 40, came ninth in the men's elite race, with a time of 2:10.28.
Speaking to the BBC after crossing the line, he said: "The crowds, the support, it was amazing.
"I gave it my all. It's quite emotional."
The four-time Olympic gold medallist previously revealed the his last race would be the Great North Run in September, after announcing in January that this would be his last year in athletics.
Yorkshire's Emile Cairess, who was also making his marathon debut, was the first British man home at the event on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Swiss athlete Marcel Hug won his third consecutive London Marathon title in the men's wheelchair race - and his fifth overall - less than a week after his victory at the Boston Marathon.
The women's wheelchair race was won by Australia's Madison de Rozario, who won the competition in 2018, who saw off four-time champ Manuela Schar at the finish line.
Some 49,675 runners registered to take part in the showpiece 26.2-mile race this year, up from the previous record of 43,199 in 2019, organisers said.
The marathon returned to its usual April timing after being held in October for the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
