Kenya, Ethiopia rivalry continues as Chepngetich ranks second in the world this year

Despite dropping out of her World Championships title defense race in Oregon due to health issues, Ruth Chepngetich remains one of the best female marathoners of 2022 and has ranked second in this year's list according to World Athletics. 

Chepngetich's run in the Chicago Marathon on 9 October has her on the helm of the season's top list as she clocked 2:14.18 to miss the world record by a 14 seconds in a crazy solo race. 

Before her victory in Chicago where she was well within the world record until the last kilometres of the race where she slowed down significantly, Chepngetich had won the Nagoya Marathon earlier in the year, clocking 2:17.18. 

It was, however, Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase who ranked top, winning the World Marathon Majors series title for 2022. 

At the World Championships, it was a close affair with Gebreslase winning gold in a championship record of 2:18:11, just nine seconds ahead of silver medalist Judith Korir.

Her World Championships triumph and third-place finishes in Tokyo and New York led to her winning the World Marathon Majors series title. 

In 2022, three women broke 2:16, ten bettered 2:18, and a staggering 27 athletes clocked sub-2:19 times. 

To put that last figure in context, before 2022 just 20 women in history had broken 2:19 for the marathon. It now requires a sub-2:18 run to make it into the world all-time top 20.

But there is more to women’s marathon running in 2022 than just fast times. There have been enthralling clashes in most of the big city races this year.

In Nagoya in March, Chepngetich and Lonah Chemtai Salpeter were locked in battle for the first half until Salpeter made a break. But Chepngetich came back in the latter stages and claimed victory in 2:17:18, finishing more than a minute ahead of the Israeli runner.

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The finish was even closer in Boston one month later as Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir managed to edge ahead of Ababel Yeshaneh to win by four seconds in 2:21:01. Just one day prior, Joan Chelimo had won the Seoul Marathon by just eight seconds in 2:18:04.

Joyciline Jepkosgei put up a strong defence of her London Marathon title but ultimately had to surrender to Yalemzerf Yehualaw, who broke away in the closing stages to win in 2:17:26. 

Two weeks later, old track foes Almaz Ayana and Genzebe Dibaba renewed their rivalry when making their marathon debuts in Amsterdam. Ayana eventually won in 2:17:20 with Dibaba finishing second in a highly respectable 2:18:05.

Sharon Lokedi produced probably the biggest surprise in a World Marathon Majors race this year, winning on her debut in New York in 2:23:23 and beating Salpeter and Gebreslase in an exciting climax.

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Other big races had dominant displays, such as Brigid Kosgei’s 2:16:02 win in Tokyo, Tigist Assefa’s 2:15:37 victory in Berlin, and Amane Beriso’s 2:14:58 win in Valencia. 

At the latter, Letesenbet Gidey finished second in 2:16:49, the fastest debut marathon in history.

Performances may indeed be getting quicker, but the discipline as a whole also appears to be getting more competitive, resulting in mouth-watering races on the road-running scene. 

Additional reporting by World Athletics