Athletics is finding it difficult to trust Ruth Chepngetich’s achievement, but Kenyan distance runners are now held in disrepute
Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the 2024 Chicago Marathon professional women's division, setting a world record in the process. Photograph: Michael Reaves/Getty Images
At age 30, Chepngetich came to Chicago with some considerable marathon pedigree, a twice-previous winner and 2019 world champion, but she also improved her previous best of 2:14:18 to become the first woman in history to break the 2:10 barrier — 13 months after Tigst Assefa from Ethiopia broke 2:12 for the first time with her 2:11:53 run in Berlin.
Much of the response to Chepngetich’s world record did acknowledge the fact she has never failed a doping test, but that certainly doesn’t give her a free pass from any suspicions, especially since Kenyan distance runners have been returning positive doping tests over the last five or six years at a faster rate than any other country in the world.
Chepngetich was asked straight out about the allegations during her post-race press conference: “Some people may think that the time is too fast and you must be doping. What would you say to them?”LetsRun’s Robert Johnson asked Ruth Chepngetich about her marathon world record of 2:09:56 in an era when Kenya is struggling with doping.
I have no evidence that Chepngetich cheated, as she has never failed a doping test. But I don’t think I’m wrong. And I don’t think this is a time to be quietI’ve been fortunate in life to have witnessed dozens of world records, from Michael Johnson and Haile Gebrselassie and Usain Bolt right through to Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault at the Paris Olympics this summer, and even if there was mild scepticism and suspicion about some over the years, they would always excite, maybe even inspire.
Burfoot then adds: “Maybe we can’t rewrite the record books, but we can still stand up and speak our truth. Because women runners deserve better. Because all runners deserve better. It’s our sport and our stories. Let’s tell them loud and clear, and clean.”Fellow US running journalist Toni Reavis was equally strident when he wrote: “Some refuse to even consider the possibility of these record times.
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