Eliud Kipchoge - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Kenya’s Kipchoge eyes historic Olympic marathon hat-trick

KENYA'S Eliud Kipchoge expects to make history with his third consecutive Olympic marathon gold medal at this year's Games in Paris, he told Reuters in an interview on Thursday, adding that there were no thoughts about retirement yet. Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila, East Germany's Waldemar Cierpinski and Kipchoge are the only athletes to have won two Olympic gold medals in the marathon when they retained their titles. "My huge expectation actually is to win the Olympics for the third time," said Kipchoge, who turns 40 in November and finished 10th at last month's Tokyo Marathon. That result and his relatively vintage…

Oct

2023

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Africa’s magnificent distance runners are fuelled by tech, grit and strategy

ATHLETICS

AFRICA'S running reputation received another boost recently when 23-year-old Kevin Kiptum won the 45th edition of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, setting a new world record for the regular marathon, of 02:00:35. Kiptium's time shaved 34 seconds off Eliud Kipchoge's record of 2:01:09 set in Berlin in 2022. This is despite Kiptum making his international marathon debut just last December, in Valencia, where he clocked an astonishing 2:01:53. While African running stars have for years dominated distance running, new and relatively younger stars are seemingly shattering records more easily, judging from their race splits and post-race assessments. In his…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

First crack appears in Kipchoge’s armour of invincibility

SPORT

MITCH PHILLIPS WHEN race commentator Steve Cram announced "this is not normal" midway through Sunday's London Marathon it was something of an understatement as Eliud Kipchoge, the most dominant performer the distance has ever seen, was finally looking mortal. An hour later, Kipchoge trailed home eighth in a time six minutes slower than his own world record and over a minute adrift of Ethiopia's Shura Kitata, who won the race after a spectacular sprint finish in two hours, 05.41 minutes. The Kenyan had finally cracked just under three miles from the end, later saying he was suffering from a blocked…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

New course, old rivals as Kipchoge and Bekele face off in London

SPORT

MITCH PHILLIPS AN unfamiliar course, poor weather and the absence of 750,000 cheering fans suggest a world record is unlikely in Sunday’s London Marathon but long-standing rivals Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele could still produce a race for the ages. After the cancellation of the original race in April due to COVID-19, organisers have pulled together an elite-only event, featuring almost 20 laps of St James’s Park, behind high fences and watched only by a handful of journalists, coaches and event officials. For Kenya’s Kipchoge, this will feel familiar after he became the first man to break two hours on…