Elites light up London – London Marathon 2022 debutants win as course records tumble

First to finish the 2022 TCS London Marathon on The Mall today was Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, who defended his title in the men’s wheelchair race in a new course record time of 1:24:38, knocking almost two minutes off his own course record, which he set in 2021. 

The USA’s Daniel Romanchuk finished just two seconds behind Hug in 1:24:40, after an exciting sprint past Buckingham Palace, with David Weir in third place in 1:30:41 on his 23rd consecutive appearance at the London Marathon.

Catherine Debrunner made it a double win for Switzerland with her victory in the women’s wheelchair race, finishing in a new course record time of 1:38:24 – after also winning her first-ever marathon in Berlin a week ago.

Susannah Scaroni of the USA was runner-up in 1:42:21, with Great Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper completing the women’s podium in a massive personal best of 1:47:27.

Defending champion Manuela Schär and 2018 winner Madison de Rozario dropped out of the race overnight due to illness.

In the elite women’s event, Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia became the youngest-ever London Marathon champion, as she took the victory at her second marathon

Yalemzerf Yehualaw (ETH) leads the field in the Elite Women’s Race during The TCS London Marathon on Sunday 2nd October 2022. – Photo: TCS London Marathon

Her winning time of 2:17:26 was just three seconds outside the personal best she set earlier this year, when she made the fastest-ever marathon debut in Hamburg in April.

Last year’s champion Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei had to settle for the runner-up spot, finishing in 2:18:07, with Alemu Megertu taking third place for Ethiopia in 2:18:32.

In the elite men’s race, Kenya’s Amos Kipruto took the win on his London Marathon debut, finishing in 2:04:39 after an acceleration in the final miles that no one could match. He was followed by Leul Gebresilase of Ethiopia in 2:05:12. Belgium’s Bashir Abdi was third, just a few seconds behind Gebresilase in 2:05:19.

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele finished fifth, with last year’s London Marathon champion Sisay Lemma in seventh.

The elite fields will be followed by more than 40,000 participants in the mass event, while around the world thousands of people are taking part in the virtual TCS London Marathon, covering their 26.2 miles on a course of their choice any time between 00:00 and 23:59 today.

Source: TCS London Marathon