2013 London Marathon Women's Race Contenders

2013 London Marathon Women's Race Contenders

Jump to: Tiki Gelana | Yoko Shibui | Priscah Jeptoo | Edna Kiplagat | Atsede Baysa

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer - Gelana Returns to London

Tiki Gelana
Age: 26
PB: 2:18:58, 2012 Rotterdam Marathon

Tiki Gelana's started out her distance running career with a pair of half marathon wins in 2006 -- Terrassa (75:53) & Mataro (75:17). She made her marathon debut at Dublin in 2009 with a third place finish (2:33:49).

2010 saw Gelana up the ante and push herself with more elite competition as she finished fourth at three separate marathons: Los Angeles (2:28:28), Rock N Roll San Diego (2:32:21) and a return trip to Dublin (2:29:53, nearly four minutes better than 2009). However, 2011 saw Gelana make a giant leap onto the world stage with a win at Amsterdam. Her 2:22:08 shaved more than six minutes from her PB. Gelana has not lost a marathon since, and has performed in spectacular ways.

She set an Ethiopian record, in a personal best at the 2012 Rotterdam -- 2:18:58 -- becoming 1 of only 4 women to break the 2:19:00 mark. That performance gave her a spot on the 2012 Ethiopian Olymic Marathon team heading to London. Despite the rainy conditions, Gelana powered through amongst an elite field that included Priscah Jeptoo, Edna Kiplagat, and Mary Keitany. She ran splits of 1:13:13 & 1:09:54 (again, in the rain! - and after a near-distastrous fall) to best the previous Olympic Marathon record of 2:23:14 set in 2000 by Japan's Naoko Takahashi.

Why? By winning the 2012 London Olympic Marathon title in the rain in a gutsy performance (bloodied after her fall), Gelana proved she has the mettle to perform on the world's bigges stages. That she also holds the fastest personal best of the field shows she has the speed. She's also won her last three marathons.

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer - Shibui Has the 2nd Best PB

Yoko Shibui
Age: 34
PB: 2:19:41, 2004 Berlin Marathon

While her fastest times were at the beginning of the prior decade, Yoko Shibui's best figure amongst the greatest female marathon times ever recorded. As such, she is always one to keep an eye on.

Early in her career, Shibui made her mark at the 5000m & 10000m. But it was her move to the maraton in 2001 that really put her on the map. She debuted at the 2001 Osaka Marathon, finishing in 2:23:11 for the win. She followed that up at the 2001 World Championships with a fourth-place finish (2:26:33). In 2002, she finished third at the Chicago Marathon (2:21:22).

Her win in 2:10:41 at the 2004 Berlin Marathon set a Japanese record and put her in exclusive company as a sub-2:20 female marathoner. However, instead of capitalizing or challenging that mark with entries into the world's larger marathons, Shibui stayed within Japan. Over the years, she has top finishes at Nagoya (2006: 2:23:58, runner-up), Tokyo (2008: 2:25:51, 4th), and Osaka (2009: 2:23:42: 1st).

2009 saw Shibui venture out of Japan across the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco. She won the 2009 San Francisco Marathon -- however it was in a disappointing time of 2:46:34. Since then, each of her four full marathons have been raced in Japan (Tokyo, Sapporo, Nagoya, and Osaka), finishing third on two occasions, fourth and eighth.

Why? She holds the 2nd-fasted PB in the field. She is only one of 17 women to break the 2:20:00 mark. In addition, her experience should aid her amongst a field that may try to go out too strong.

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer - Priscah Was 3rd in 2012

Priscah Jeptoo
Age: 29
PB: 2:20:14, 2012 London Marathon

Prichah Jeptoo made her half marathon debut at Sao Paulo in 2007, finishing second in 77:02. Since then, she has finished no worse than third in either a full or half marathon. After a half marathon win at Regua in 2009 (72:17), Jeptoo moved up to the full marathon and won at Porto (2:30:40).

She followed those performances with another win at Ribarroja in 2010 (71:13), and a runner-up finish at Padova (2:30:53), and a win at Torino (2:27:02).

Despite those successes, Jeptoo would wait until the 2011 Paris Marathon to really catch everyone's attention. She lowered her personal best by nearly four minutes as she won the 2011 Paris Marathon (2:22:55), then earned a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships iin Daegu (2:29:00), finishing just behind compatriot Edna Kiplagat and ahead of other London Marathon 2013 entries such as Yukiko Akaba, Remi Nakazato, Atsede Baysa, and Mai Ito.

In 2012 she continued to show her stuff as she finished third at the London Marathon (2:20:14) behind Mary Keitany and Edna Kiplagat. That finish put her on the 2012 Kenya Olympic Marathon team. She entered the Games as one to watch and did not disappoint; finishing second behind Tiki Gelana (in the London Marathon 2013 line-up) in 2:23:12.

Most recently Jeptoo has won a half marathon at Lisbon (70:32) and finished second at RAK in February 2012 (66:11).

Why? Jeptoo set her personal best at the 2012 London Marathon. She has never finished below 3rd place in either a full or half marathon. She owns the fifth best PB of the field (and has the experience of finishing third in 2012), and was second at the London Olympic Marathon. Will she continue that trend and move up the podium?

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer - Edna Was 2nd in 2012

Edna Kiplagat
Age: 34
PB: 2:19:50, 2012 London Marathon

Edna Kiplagat saw steady success at the half marathon distance before announcing herself on the world stage with big wins in 2010 at the Los Angeles Marathon and New York City. Though early successes are telling and illustrate just why Edna Kiplagat (no relation to Florence Kiplagat) is always a contender.

Kiplagat made her marathon debut at the 2005 Las Vegas Marathon, finishing tenth in 2:50:20. That would be by far her slowest finish of her career. In 2006 she won the Virginia Beach Half Marathon (71:08) and finished second at Philadelphia (70:12) and San Jose (69:32). The following year, Kiplagat successfully defended her Virginia Beach title (71:14), took third at Philadelphia (70:11) and won the Boston Half Marathon (73:36) in an always competitive field.

2010 Kiplagat returned to the full marathon at Los Angeles and shocked everyone. By finishing in 2:25:38, she had cut nearly 25 minutes from her inauspicious debut five years earlier in Las Vegas. It was a sign of things to come. Despite the win at Los Angeles, Kiplagat was still a relative unknown entering the 2010 New York City Marathon. That didn't last long. With her win (2:28:20), Kiplagat cemented herself for years to come as a top contender. She returned to New York the following spring and earned second at the NYC Half Marathon (69:00).

Kiplagat made her London Marathon debut in 2011. Despite finishing third behind Mary Keitany and Liliya Shobukhova, Kiplagat's 2:20:46 finish came in a very strong performance -- it cut nearly five minutes from her PB set at Los Angeles the previous spring. Hot off that performance at London, Kiplagat won the gold medal at the 2011 World Championships at Daegu (2:28:43). It was a gutsy performance in humid conditions, and included a near disaster as she was inadvertently tripped with 4km to go by Sharon Cherop near a drink station.

Last year Kiplagat returned to London for the 2012 London Marathon and once again lowered her personal best (2:19:50) as she finished second to Mary Keitany.

Why? She has twice set her personal best at the London Marathon. She holds the fourth best amongst the elite field. She's also coming off a disappointing showing at the 2012 London Olympic Marathon. All signs point to her bouncing back in a big way.

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer - Baysa Won the 2012 Chicago Marathon

Atsede Baysa
Age: 26
PB: 2:22:03, 2012 Chicago Marathon

Atsede Baysa's elite running career started early. She made her marathon debut in 2006 at Nagano on her 19th birthday (2:29:31). The next several years consisted of decent finishes in both full and half marathons. 2009 saw her breakthrough with a win at the Paris Marathon (2:24:42), setting a personal best by over four minutes. 2010 saw her succesfully defending her title in a course record (2:22:42--the fourth fastest Ethiopian time) and winning the Paris Half Marathon as well (71:05). She also won the 2010 marathon Xiamen International Marathon (2:28:53).

Since 2010, Baysa has finished at or near the top of the world's best marathons and half marathons. In October 2010, she was the Chicago Marathon runner-up (2:23:40). In 2011, Baysa won half marathons at Tarsus and Reims (71:37 & 69:58) and finished second at Goteborg (70:11). On the marathon front, she finished fifth at both Dubai (2:25:08) and London (2:23:50).

2012 proved another banner year for Baysa and indicated her progress as a distance runner. In January 2012 she finished eighth at a very fast Dubai Marathon (2:23:130), then ninth at London (2:25:59). In between those runs was her return to Tarsus where she successfully defended her half marathon title (69:39). Baysa closed out 2012 with a bang -- winning the Chicago Marathon in a new personal best (2:22:03). Most recently, Baysa won the 2013 Barcelona Half Marathon.

Why? Despite her young age, Baysa is one of the most seasoned elite female marathoners, with 20 finishes under belt. In addition, she's coming off a major win at Chicago in a personal best. Can she continue her success?