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TOKYO2025: Jepchirchir terms marathon win ‘special and unexpected’
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Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 14.09.25. | 05:35
The Olympic champion, who returned to Japan and once again left triumphant, admitted she had not planned to sprint in the final metres
2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships women’s marathon gold medalist Peres Jepchirchir has described her triumph as both “special and unexpected.”
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The Olympic champion, who returned to Japan and once again left triumphant, admitted she had not planned to sprint in the final metres.
She even expected her fiercest rival, Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, to topple her in the decisive moments.
Assefa was the first to make her move with about 200 metres to go, surging into the lead inside the Japan National Stadium.
But Jepchirchir, drawing on her famed resilience, found a late second wind to power past and take gold.
"I am so happy with what I have done in Tokyo. It was so hot, so difficult. But I managed it. It was not easy. When I entered the stadium, I got a lot of energy from the fans," Jepchirchir said afterwards.
"I really did not expect to win. It was not my ultimate plan to sprint in the final metres, but when I saw I was 100m from the finish, I just started to kick. I found some hidden energy there."
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"I was so exhausted coming to the stadium, stepping on the track. So exhausted. But I sprinted for it. Despite running many marathons in my career, I am so grateful for this one because I was not expecting the victory."
Assefa, who finished just two seconds adrift, reflected on her near miss with positivity.
"When I took the lead with Jepchirchir, I guessed that it would be all about a sprint in the last 100m. It was the same at the Paris Olympics when I also finished second and lost to Sifan [Hassan]. But I don’t like to think I lost gold. I always try to be positive and think that I won the silver," she said.
It was a sight to behold when the two women, after running nearly 42km, stormed into the Japan National Stadium locked in a head-to-head duel for the marathon world crown.
In the end, it was Jepchirchir who prevailed, stopping the clock at 2:24:43 a season’s best and just two seconds ahead of Assefa (2:24:45).
The victory added another glittering chapter to Jepchirchir’s career in Japan.
Four years ago, she had been crowned Olympic champion in Sapporo, after the marathon was moved there from Tokyo due to heat concerns.
On Sunday, those same concerns lingered despite organisers starting the race half an hour earlier at 7:30am.
Humid conditions and an air temperature of around 28°C (82°F) tested the field.
Both Jepchirchir and Assefa stayed patient early on, letting the American duo of Susanna Sullivan and Jessica McClain dictate the tempo.
Sullivan impressively held onto her lead for more than 27km before the pre-race favourites reeled her in.
From then, the script was clear, Jepchirchir and Assefa would decide the title between them.
And they did, in one of the closest and most thrilling finishes in World Championships marathon history.
