Shock as Eliud Kipchoge Fails to defend London Marathon crown

World Record holder Eliud Kipchoge finished in a shocking 8th position during the 40th edition of the London Marathon

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World marathon Record holder Eliud Kipchoge was on Sunday stunned to an 8th place finish as he failed to defend his London crown during the 40th edition of the London Marathon.

Ethiopia’s Shira Kitata was the star of the day in London beating a strong field to win in 2hr 5min 41sec.

Kenya’s Vincent Kipchumba was second (2hr 5min 42sec)  ahead of another Ethiopian Sisay Lemma who finished 3rd with 2:05.45.

Kipchoge had been tipped to retain his title ahead of the race with pundits predicting a world class duel between Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele who later withdrew from the race in the last minute.

Earlier at the same field, Brigid Kosgei defied the cold rainy conditions to defend her women’s title.