Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei eclipsed the 16-year-old women’s marathon world record held by Britain’s Paula Radcliffe as she retained her Chicago title.
The 25-year-old recorded a time of two hours 14 minutes 04 seconds, easily inside Radcliffe’s mark of 2:15:25 set at the London Marathon in 2003.
It adds to the Kenyan’s win in London this year when she clocked 2:18:20 and became the youngest winner of the race.
Ethiopa’s Ababel Yeshaneh was second in Chicago, six minutes 47 seconds behind.
Radcliffe’s 2003 time was longest-standing marathon world record by either men or women in the post-war era.
The former world champion was at the finish line in Chicago to witness Kosgei’s remarkable performance and was among the first to congratulate her.
“When I saw how fast Brigid was running in the first half I knew it was going to be broken,” said Radcliffe.
Ethiopa’s Gelete Burka completed the top three in Chicago on Sunday with a time of 2:20:51.
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Manuela Schar retained her wheelchair title, finishing 30 seconds faster than last year in 1:41.08.