Kenyan legend Eliud Kipchoge sets sights on Olympic marathon treble
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Eliud Kipchoge, 38, has set himself many challenges in his dazzling career.
PHOTO: AFP
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NAIROBI – Two months on from his disappointing performance at the Boston marathon,
The Kenyan, widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time, has set himself many challenges in his dazzling career and remains insatiable despite his two Olympic titles, his world record of 2hr 1min 9sec in Berlin in 2022
He broke the mythical two-hour barrier
Victory has eluded the 38-year-old in the Boston and New York marathons, which if he won would make him the first man to have all six major titles under his belt.
“The priority now is to focus on the Olympics and win a third time. The other (challenges) will come later,” Kipchoge said in an interview with AFP at the renowned Kaptagat training camp in Kenya’s Rift Valley.
His two Olympic marathon gold medals in 2016 and 2021
A third gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024 would make Kipchoge the undisputed marathon giant at the Games, and bring him a victory steeped in symbolism.
The French capital was the city where he won his first international crown in 2003 at the age of 18, clinching the 5,000m world title ahead of sporting legends Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.
However, Kipchoge does not rule out giving up on his other goals, saying: “If time comes in to hang the racing shoes, I will say bye to other big things in sport.”
Sitting on a shaded bench in the Kaptagat camp where he has lived and trained for several months a year for 20 years, Kipchoge reflected on his poor showing in Boston on April 17, when he dropped from the lead group in the 30th kilometre and ended up sixth.
This rare failure dampened his spirits. He said: “I’m trying to forget what happened in Boston. It’s caught in my mind... but I believe that what has passed, has passed.”
With his lifelong coach Patrick Sang, he has analysed the reasons for his disappointing performance, saying “it’s mostly the hamstring”.
He brushes aside concerns about his difficulties on hilly courses such as Boston and New York and which will also confront him in Paris, saying: “It is not really a concern, but I respect everybody’s thoughts. It was a bad day, and every day is a different day.
“Everybody can write anything, you have no control. But I know myself.”
Eliud Kipchoge took sixth place in Boston in April.
PHOTO: AFP
Kipchoge is now preparing for his final marathon of 2023.
“I’m doing well. My training is going on in a good way,” he said.
But he has not yet disclosed which event it will be – Berlin on Sept 24, Chicago on Oct 8 or New York on Nov 5.
“At the end of July, I will know where to go,” said Kipchoge.
He is following his usual training programme, eating up more than 200km a week on the red dirt tracks of Kaptagat forest, 2,400 metres above sea level.
Among his 20-odd training partners at the camp at the time of the interview were Kenya’s new 1,500m and 5,000m world record holder Faith Kipyegon and two-time New York marathon winner Geoffrey Kamworor.
But in a country where athletics has become tainted by large-scale drug use, Kipchoge lamented that “many people are going into shortcuts to advance”. He added: “Doping is there... It’s all more about getting rich.”
Kipchoge said the authorities should prioritise testing for performance-enhancing substances, saying it was much more important than education “because everybody who is doing doping knows what is going on”. AFP
