Advances in shoe know-how, coaching strategies and vitamin have helped push girls’s marathon occasions 10 to fifteen minutes sooner than they had been 4 a long time in the past. However former world-record holder and two-time Boston Marathon champion Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway believes a few of at the moment’s quickest performances include an asterisk.
Kristiansen’s Nordic marathon report of two:21:06, set on the 1985 London Marathon, stood for practically 40 years earlier than it was damaged final weekend on the 2025 Valencia Marathon. Finnish runner Alisa Vainio clocked 2:20:48 to complete fourth and set the brand new Nordic mark.
Kristiansen was requested by Finnish nationwide broadcaster YLE for her response. She stated she was happy to see the report lastly fall and congratulated Vainio on her efficiency. However the 69-year-old additionally voiced her skepticism concerning the quickest occasions within the girls’s subject.
“After we see outcomes of two:13 or 2:14, I’m all the time very satisfied that they contain blood doping,” Kristiansen advised YLE.
Her feedback gave the impression to be directed at Kenyan distance runner Joyciline Jepkosgei, who received the Valencia Marathon in a world-leading 2:14:00.
“When you can do away with blood doping, she [Vainio] can take gold,” Kristiansen stated.
Kristiansen was one of the crucial dominant feminine distance runners of her period, holding world information within the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon, concurrently. Her marathon world report lasted 13 years earlier than being lowered by 19 seconds by Kenya’s Tegla Loroupe on the 1998 Rotterdam Marathon.
Jepkosgei and her workforce haven’t responded to Kristiansen’s accusations. Nonetheless, Jepkosgei’s development within the marathon has been very gradual. She made her marathon debut in 2019 on the New York Metropolis Marathon, ending in 2:22:38 (a time slower than Kristiansen’s finest from 1985), and has since reached the rostrum on the TCS London Marathon 4 occasions up to now 5 years.
Kristiansen’s feedback come amid a debate on the effectiveness of the Athletics Integrity Unit’s (AIU) anti-doping enforcement. Final week on the World Convention on Doping in Sport in Busan, South Korea, AIU chair David Howman stated he believes the group continues to be “not efficient sufficient” at catching drug cheats.
In 2024, the AIU issued suspensions to 305 athletes, a rise of greater than 50 per cent from the 185 instances recorded the earlier 12 months. Howman believes intentional dopers on the highest stage usually have subtle assist groups designed to assist them evade detection. Earlier than changing into chair of the AIU, Howman spent 13 years because the director normal of the World Anti-Doping Company.
