Jepchirchir, Mutiso, Kipchoge and Chepngetich confirmed for London Marathon

Peres Jepchirchir and Alexander Mutiso Munyao will defend their TCS London Marathon titles on Sunday 27 April, organizers of the World Athletics Platinum Label Road race have confirmed.
The elite field also includes world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich, two-time Berlin Marathon champion Tigist Assefa, four-time London Marathon winner Eliud Kipchoge and two-time world cross country champion Jacob Kiplimo, who’ll be making his debut over the classic distance.
Also joining the elite field are Olympic marathon champions Sifan Hassan and Tamirat Tola.
It means the three fastest women in history – Chepngetich, Assefa and Hassan – will all toe the line in the British capital.
The race will also include 2021 London Marathon champion Joyciline Jepkosgei and Valencia Marathon champion Alemu Megertu, who finished third and fourth respectively in London last year. They’re among the six women in the field with a PB faster than 2:17.
Kipchoge, Kiplimo, Tola and Mutiso will be joined in the men’s race by world half marathon champion Sabastian Sawe, who ran 2:02:05 in Valencia last month on his debut at the distance. Berlin Marathon champion Milkesa Mengesha and 2024 Tokyo Marathon runner-up Timothy Kiplagat and New York City Marathon champion Abdi Nageeye are also in the field.
Kipchoge, 40, the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, returns to London for the first time since 2020.
“I am excited to share that my next race will be the TCS London Marathon,” Kipchoge said in a statement.
“It is a race that holds a very special place in my heart… After a good period of rest, I have returned to training with renewed energy and focus. I feel re-fueled to give my very best in London.”
The Kenyan marathon great claimed his four London Marathon titles in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. He is the fastest man in the field thanks to the PB of 2:01:09 he set in Berlin in 2022, a former world record that now places him second on the world all-time list and will be hoping to clinch a record extending five wins.
“This is quite simply the greatest elite field in the history of the London Marathon,” said Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events. “We are welcoming back all our defending champions and, excitingly, Ruth Chepngetich who produced one of the most outstanding performances of all time when she became the first woman to run inside 2:10 in Chicago last year.
“In Ruth, Sifan Hassan and Tigist Assefa we have the three fastest women of all time in the field in a thrilling showdown. All three have run inside 2:14 and no marathon in history has ever had a faster line-up. This year, our historic 45th edition, is stronger than ever before,” he added.