Jacob Kiplimo and Hawi Feysa will return to the Chicago Marathon to defend their titles against deep international fields at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiplimo heads back to Chicago having significantly improved his marathon credentials since winning there 12 months ago, while Feysa faces a women\u2019s field that includes former world record-holder Brigid Kosgei and two-time Boston champion Sharon Lokedi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiplimo won in Chicago last year in 2:02:23, finishing more than a minute ahead of Kenya\u2019s Amos Kipruto in what was just the Ugandan\u2019s second race over the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has since enjoyed a remarkable 2026. After claiming his third consecutive title at the World Cross Country Championships, he broke the world half marathon record with 57:20 in Lisbon \u2013 a mark that has since been improved \u2013 and then produced another breakthrough over 26.2 miles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At April\u2019s London Marathon, Kiplimo finished third in 2:00:28 as Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha became the first two men to officially break two hours for the distance. Kiplimo\u2019s time put him third on the world all-time list and improved his own Ugandan record by almost two minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is also seven seconds faster than the Chicago course record of 2:00:35 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy preparation has given me a lot of confidence, and having raced this course before is a real advantage,\u201d said Kiplimo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He will renew his rivalry with Kipruto, who followed him home in Chicago last year and then finished one place behind him in London in April. The 2022 London champion clocked a PB of 2:01:39 on that occasion, making him the second-fastest man in a field that includes six sub-2:04 performers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Milkesa Mengesha, the 2024 Berlin Marathon champion, returns to the USA after finishing 10th in Boston in April. The Ethiopian has a best of 2:03:17. His compatriot Tadese Takele retained his Tokyo Marathon title in March in 2:03:37. Kenya\u2019s Daniel Mateiko was fourth in that race in a PB of 2:03:44 and will also line up in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another Ethiopian, Asrar Hiyrden, completes the group of sub-2:04 entrants. He ran 2:03:59 in Seville in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several athletes just outside that group will be looking to make another step forward. USA\u2019s Charles Hicks ran 2:04:35 to finish seventh at the Boston Marathon in April, while Suguru Osako holds the Japanese record of 2:04:55.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hicks is part of a strong US contingent that also includes Clayton Young, who ran 2:05:41 in Boston, 2017 Chicago champion Galen Rupp and Vincent Mauri, whose 2:05:54 victory in Toledo earlier this year marked a major breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa\u2019s Adriaan Wildschutt, Japan\u2019s Tomoki Ota and Thailand\u2019s Kieran Tuntivate \u2013 all of whom hold national records at other distances \u2013 are among the athletes making their marathon debuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Feysa is the defending women\u2019s champion, Kosgei has perhaps the strongest historical connection with the Chicago course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kenyan won there in 2018 before returning the following year to clock 2:14:04, taking 81 seconds off Paula Radcliffe\u2019s long-standing world record. She has not raced in Chicago since that performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now 32, Kosgei has returned to some of her best form this year. She won the Tokyo Marathon in March in 2:14:29 \u2013 the second-fastest time of her career and an Asian all-comers\u2019 record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feysa was third in that race in 2:17:39, having enjoyed the biggest victory of her career in Chicago five months earlier. The Ethiopian pulled away from the field to win the 2025 race in 2:14:57, more than two minutes ahead of compatriot Megertu Alemu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alemu returns this year, as does Sutume Kebede, whose 2:15:55 PB makes her the third-fastest woman in the field. Both raced in Tokyo earlier this year, where Kebede and Alemu finished fourth and fifth respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lokedi, meanwhile, will race in Chicago for the first time. The Kenyan has established herself as one of the world\u2019s leading championship-style marathon racers, having won the New York Marathon in 2022 before taking back-to-back Boston titles in 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She retained her Boston crown in April in 2:18:51, with two more Chicago entrants \u2013 Loice Chemnung and Mary Ngugi-Cooper \u2013 completing the podium. Chicago will provide Lokedi with her first opportunity to race one of the flatter, faster courses on the major marathon circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brillian Kipkoech is another Kenyan arriving on the back of a victory. She improved her PB to 2:17:05 to win in Hamburg in April and is one of seven women in the field with a best inside 2:18. Degitu Azimeraw, the 2021 London runner-up, is another member of that group. Chemnung, Joan Kilimo, Magdalyne Masai, Fantu Worku and Ngugi-Cooper have all broken 2:20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kilimo, just 22, achieved her 2:18:40 best when finishing runner-up in Barcelona in March, while Worku ran 2:19:08 for third in Dubai at the start of February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The home challenge includes Susanna Sullivan, Natosha Rogers, Sara Hall and Dakotah Popehn. Emma Grace Hurley, meanwhile, is among the intriguing debutantes. She returns to Chicago having set a US 8km record at the Shamrock Shuffle earlier this year, while Mexico\u2019s Laura Galvan and Great Britain\u2019s Amy-Eloise Neale will also contest their first marathons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women<\/strong> Men<\/strong> Jacob Kiplimo and Hawi Feysa will return to the Chicago Marathon to defend their titles against deep international<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[50,137],"class_list":["post-16478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-athletics","tag-marathon"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Brigid Kosgei (KEN) 2:14:04
Hawi Feysa (ETH) 2:14:57
Sutume Kebede (ETH) 2:15:55
Megertu Alemu (ETH) 2:16:34
Brillian Kipkoech (KEN) 2:17:05
Sharon Lokedi (KEN) 2:17:22
Degitu Azimeraw (ETH) 2:17:58
Loice Chemnung (KEN) 2:18:24
Joan Kilimo (KEN) 2:18:40
Magdalyne Masai (KEN) 2:18:58
Fantu Worku (ETH) 2:19:08
Mary Ngugi-Cooper (KEN) 2:19:26
Sara Hall (USA) 2:20:32
Yuka Akasaki (JPN) 2:21:33
Susanna Sullivan (USA) 2:21:56
Des Linden (USA) 2:22:38
Isobel Batt-Doyle (AUS) 2:22:59
Natosha Rogers (USA) 2:23:28
Dakotah Popehn (USA) 2:24:20
Jess Warner-Judd (GBR) 2:24:45
Laura Galvan (MEX) debut
Emma Grace Hurley (USA) debut
Amy-Eloise Neale (GBR) debut<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) 2:00:28
Amos Kipruto (KEN) 2:01:39
Milkesa Mengesha (ETH) 2:03:17
Tadese Takele (ETH) 2:03:23
Daniel Mateiko (KEN) 2:03:44
Asrar Hiyrden (ETH) 2:03:59
Charles Hicks (USA) 2:04:35
Suguru Osako (JPN) 2:04:55
Mohamed Reda El Aaraby (MAR) 2:05:18
Clayton Young (USA) 2:05:41
Sondre Moen (NOR) 2:05:48
Vincent Mauri (USA) 2:05:54
Yemane Haileselassie (ERI) 2:06:06
Galen Rupp (USA) 2:06:07
Akira Akasaki (JPN) 2:06:15
Boki Diriba (ETH) 2:06:26
Hendrik Pfeiffer (GER) 2:06:34
Rory Linkletter (CAN) 2:06:49
Abbabiya Simbassa (USA) 2:06:53
Tomoki Ota (JPN) debut
Kieran Tuntivate (THA) debut
Adriaan Wildschutt (RSA) debut<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"