Like any true competitor, Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei does not plan to coast on her latest accomplishment — even if that happens to be running the fastest-ever women’s marathon.
Hours after shattering Paula Radcliffe’s 16-year-old world record — running the Chicago marathon in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 4 seconds — the 25-year-old said that she believes any number of competitors could beat her.
“If a lady can prepare good and they have no injury ... they can reduce to 2:12 or one minute to 2:13,” Kosgei told a news conference.
While she stopped short of pointing to a 2:10:00 marathon for herself, she made clear that her sole goal is getting faster.
“I’m still focusing to reduce my time again — if it’s possible,” Kosgei said. “If my body would be good [I could] reduce little by little, slowly.”
The 25-year-old arrived in the Windy City as the overwhelming favorite, having won the race last year.
Her confidence showed at the start of the race, when she set an aggressive pace of 3:05.59 per kilometer in the first 5km, causing commentators to fret that she had perhaps overextended herself.
“I was too fast because I wanted to leave the group and focus,” Kosgei said. “I come here to run my own pace, I don’t depend on someone.”
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