Kenyan legend Kipchoge sets sights on Olympic marathon treble
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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - APRIL 17: Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya runs in the professional Men's Division during the 127th Boston Marathon on April 17, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. Kipchoge finished in sixth place. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Maddie Meyer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Two months
on from his disappointing performance at the Boston marathon, Eliud Kipchoge
tells AFP he is determined to keep on writing history -- and secure a third Olympic
marathon crown next year.
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 2:01:09 in Berlin in 2022 and an incredible
15 wins in 18 marathons he has entered.
He broke the
mythical two-hour barrier over the 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometre) distance in
Vienna in 2019, with a time of 1:59:40, but the feat was not recognised as an
official world record as it was not in open competition.
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 says 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 put him at level pegging with
Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila (1960, 1964) and Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany
(1976, 1980).
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 5,000 metres world championship 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.
"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 looks back on his poor showing in Boston
on April 17, where he dropped from the lead group in the 30th kilometre and
ended up finishing sixth.
This rare
failure dampened his spirits.
"I'm
trying to forget what has 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.
"It is
not really a concern, but I respect everybody's thoughts," he says.
"I think it was a bad day and every day is a different day. I'm looking
forward for next year.
"Everybody
can write anything, you have no control. But I know myself."
Kipchoge is
now preparing for his final marathon of the year.
"I'm
doing well. My training is going on in a good way," he says.
But he has
not yet disclosed which event it will be -- Berlin on September 24, Chicago on
October 8 or New York on November 5.
"At the
end of July, I will know where to go."
He is
following his usual training programme, eating up more than 200 kilometres 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 AFP interview were
Kenya's new 1,500m and 5,000m world record holder Faith Kipyegon and two-time
New York marathon winner Geoffrey Kamworor.
As the
respected dean of Kenyan athletics, Kipchoge is happy to see the emergence of
23-year-old compatriot Kelvin Kiptum, who won the London Marathon in April in
2:01:25, the second fastest time in history and just 16 seconds away from his
own world record.
"I want
to be an inspiration and I trust my breaking the world record twice is an
inspiration to many young people. I trust they will want more and even beat my
records."
But in a
country where athletics has become tainted by large-scale drug use, Kipchoge
laments that "many people are going into shortcuts to advance".
"I
think doping is there... It's all more about getting rich."
Kipchoge
says 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".
"Just
pump everything in testing, put testing as a first priority and all will be
well," he says
"The
moment we prioritise testing and we register those who are handling the
athletes across the country, we have the right data to know who is who in the
whole country.
"But if
we really ignore the people who are working with athletes and athletes
themselves, then we are in danger."
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