Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo won the 47th Chicago Marathon on Sunday and sealed his first major victory after dethroning Kenya’s John Korir with an impressive test of strength, while in the women’s category, Ethiopia’s Hawi Feysa was crowned.
Kiplimo, a half-marathon specialist who was only running the second Marathon of his career, stopped the clock at two hours, two minutes and 21 seconds, as he also came within moments of Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum’s world record (2:00:35).
Jacob Kiplimo wins the Chicago Marathon
JACOB KIPLIMO WINNER OF THE CHICAGO MARATHON 🏅🔥.
🇺🇬 The Ugandan crossed the finish line in 02:02:23 in his second Major, achieving the sixth best time in history. 😱 pic.twitter.com/BUvC4Px04V
– ESPN Run (@ESPNRun) October 12, 2025
The 24-year-old Ugandan made the decisive attack at 30 kilometers, when he left Korir behind and kept pushing the accelerator towards the finish line in downtown Chicago’s Grant Park, ahead of Amos Kipruto.
In the women’s Marathon, Hawi Feysa sealed her first major victory with a time of two hours, fourteen minutes and 55 seconds.
The marathon started at 7:30 a.m. on a sunny Chicago day and the temperature was thirteen degrees Celsius.
John Korir, the big favorite, led a group that included Jacob Kiplimo, Kenyans Amos Kipruto and Timothy Kiplagat for more than an hour.
Jacob Kiplimo, a half marathon specialist, had only contested one Marathon in his career, the 2024 London Marathon, when he finished second.
Last Friday, at the pre-marathon media day, he made it clear that “there is no comparison” between a half marathon and a full marathon, but he made the most of his London experience and made his debut in a ‘major’ in the Windy City.
I wait for the 30 kilometers to attack.
He built up a lead of about ten seconds over Korir and maintained a remarkable pace that not only opened the way to victory, but also to a possible world record.
Korir suffered psychologically and ended up losing second place to Amos Kipruto.
Kiplimo’s pace was aiming for two hours and 33 seconds, which would give him the world record, but in the last kilometers the Ugandan began to feel the fatigue.
He was not able to achieve the world record, but he did set his personal record.
Hawi Feysa wins the Women’s Marathon
5th of all time 😤
🇪🇹’s Hawi Feysa storms to victory at the @ChiMarathon marathon in 2:14:56, becoming the fifth fastest woman in history 🤯
Her compatriot Megertu Alemu finishes in second for a 1-2 Ethiopian finish ✨ pic.twitter.com/QJc83M47iL
– World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) October 12, 2025
In the women’s marathon, Hawi Feysa, an athlete with multiple sub-two-hour-and-twenty-minute times, made the decisive attack at 35 kilometers to pull away from her compatriot Megertu Alemu.
He crossed the finish line more than a minute and a half ahead of Alemu and went under 2:15 hours for the first time.
Feysa took the throne from Ruth Chepngetich, who last year sealed the world record in Chicago and became the first woman to break the two hour and ten minute barrier in a marathon.
The Kenyan did not participate in this edition as she was provisionally suspended for the “presence and use” of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) in a control carried out on March 14.
The use of this product, a diuretic included in the list of prohibited substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency Code under category S5 (Diuretics and Masking Agents), could result in a two-year sanction.
In the men’s wheelchair marathon, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug became the all-time winner in Chicago with his fifth crown in the Windy City to endorse a remarkable year in which he also triumphed in Boston, London, Sydney and Berlin.
He stopped the timer in 1:19:59 and was about a minute off the world record.
In the men’s category, American Susannah Scaroni was crowned for the second time in Chicago, with a time of 1:38:14 to vindicate herself after having to withdraw just after starting the Marathon last year due to a problem with her wheelchair.
With information from EFE
