Peres Jepchirchir's first race of 2026 revealed
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Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 02.07.26. | 21:32
The 32-year-old missed the London Marathon earlier this year with a stress fracture
Kenyan distance runner Peres Jepchirchir will make her first competitive appearance on the road this year, when she lines up for the TCS Sydney Marathon in Australia on Sunday, 30 August.
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Jepchirchir, 32, has been announced as the headline name on what has been termed by organisers as “the strongest elite field ever assembled on Australian soil.”
The race will be the reigning World champion’s first in 2026, following a troubled spell earlier this year, which saw her pull out of the London Marathon with an unspecified stress fracture she sustained in her last competitive race in Valencia last December.
Jepchirchir comes into the race as the fastest woman in the field, carrying an immense personal best of 2:14.43.
A previous winner of the London, Boston and New York City Marathons, the former Olympic marathon champion hopes to add another Major victory to her growing catalogue of successes, with Sydney marking its second year as an Abbott World Marathon Major.
In announcing the two-time world half-marathon champion, the organisers noted: “Jepchirchir's ability to deliver in championship environments has become her trademark.
Whether in tactical races or fast-paced major marathons, she has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to rise to the occasion.”
Among Jepchirchir’s chief rivals are fellow Kenyans Irine Cheptai and the legendary Vivian Cheruiyot, who form part of an extraordinary field that consists of twenty athletes who have run under 2:22, thirteen who have broken 2:20, and nine who have recorded times faster than 2:19.
A silver medallist over 10,000 metres at the Commonwealth Games, Cheptai comes in with a personal best time of 2:17.51, while 42-year-old Cheruiyot carries her best time of 2:18.31, set back in London in 2018.
Joining the star-studded list are international names, including Tanzania's Magdalena Shauri, Uganda's Stella Chesang, Ethiopia's Ruti Aga, and her compatriot Haven Hailu.