The women’s only marathon world record is expected to be broken at the 2024 London Marathon slated for Sunday, April 21. The organizers have assembled a star-studded lineup that includes Tigist Assefa from Ethiopia and four of the best Kenyan road race runners to attack the record set by Mary Keitany in 2017.

Three of the top four fastest women in history will spearhead a charge to set a new women’s-only world record at the 2024 TCS London Marathon. Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa, who became the new world record holder with a time of 2:11:53 at last September’s BMW Berlin Marathon, will lead the challenge.

Brigid Kosgei, who won the 2019 World Athletics Championships title and Paula Radcliffe’s world record in 2019, will also compete. Ruth Chepngetich, Peres Jepchirchir, and Yalemzerf Yehualaw are also formidable competitors.

Race director Hugh Brasher is confident that Keitany’s world record will be broken at this year’s edition, as a total of ten women have run under 2 hours 17 minutes and 30 seconds. Four other competitors in this year’s London event have faster times than Keitany’s mark in mixed races, including Kosgei (2:14:04) and Chepngetich (2:14:18) from Kenya, as well as Ethiopia’s Ketema (2:16:07) and Ayana (2:16:22).