Kipsang smashes fastest marathon record by 15 seconds in Berlin win

Kenya's Wilson Kipsang has smashed the marathon world record by 15 seconds on the notoriously flat and fast Berlin streets en route to taking the Berlin Marathon title.

According to Stuff.co.nz, the 31-year-old Kipsang clocked a time Sunday of two hours, three minutes and 23 seconds to better the previous mark set two years ago in the same race by compatriot Patrick Makau, who was forced to pull out through injury two weeks ago.

Kipsang, who won the 2012 London Marathon and also took bronze at the Olympics, produced a storming finish to leave compatriot Eliud Kipchoge a distant second, almost a minute behind, the report said.

He said that he was very happy to have won and broken the world record, adding that he was really inspired by Paul Tergat when he broke the world record 10 years ago and was very happy that he was in a position to break the record on the same course.

Tergat's time of 2:04:55 at the 2003 Berlin Marathon was the first to be ratified as a world record by governing body the IAAF, who previously recognised fastest marathon times as world bests, the report added.