Eliud Kipchoge picks next race ahead of Olympic title defence
Double Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge during a training session in Kaptagat this year. He will compete at the Tokyo Marathon next March.
What you need to know:
- Kipchoge, 39, won the Rio de Janeiro (2016) and Tokyo (2021) Olympic marathon titles to equal other back-to-back double winners - Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia (1960, 1964) and Waldemar Cierpinski of the former East Germany (1976, 1980).
Double Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge has picked Tokyo as his final marathon race venue before heading to Paris where he will be chasing an unprecedented third straight Olympic title.
Kipchoge, 39, won the Rio de Janeiro (2016) and Tokyo (2021) Olympic marathon titles to equal other back-to-back double winners - Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia (1960, 1964) and Waldemar Cierpinski of the former East Germany (1976, 1980).
Winner of the women's race Ethiopia's Tigist Assefa (left) and winner of the men's race Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge celebrate on the podium with their trophies after the Berlin Marathon on September 24, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. Assefa smashed the women's marathon world record in Berlin, winning in 2hr 11min 53sec, more than two minutes ahead of the previous mark. Kipchoge's fifth win in Berlin takes him past Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie's four victories.
He will be going for an unprecedented Olympic marathon hat-trick on August 10 next year when Paris hosts the men’s marathon.
Kipchoge’s NN Running Team/ Global Sports Communication management stable announced his Tokyo entry alongside that of London Marathon champion, Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan, in a press statement on Wednesday night.
Incidentally, Kipchoge holds the Tokyo Marathon course record from his last visit in 2021 at two hours, two minutes and 40 seconds.
“I have good memories in Japan. I won my Olympic gold medal there and ran the course record in the Tokyo marathon,” Kipchoge said of his Tokyo entry.
“Last time, I was grateful for the organisation to organise the event during such a difficult time during the Covid-19 pandemic. My aim was to set the course record and it was great to achieve that.
“I feel good working towards my next race in Tokyo. For me, it is the perfect preparation towards my aim to win my third consecutive Olympic title next summer in Paris.”
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge celebrates after winning the men's marathon final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Sapporo on August 8, 2021.
Kipchoge, who is also the 2003 world 5,000 metres champion, will head to the Japanese capital fresh off a record fifth win at this year’s Berlin Marathon.
His time of 2:02:42 there means six of the 10 fastest official marathons ever have been run by the Kenyan.
This will be Kipchoge’s 22nd marathon, with 18 wins so far including 11 Major Marathons.
World Marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge during a past training in Berlin.
He has twice broken the world record, both times in Berlin, and in 2019 became the first runner in history to break the two-hour barrier as part of the INEOS 1:59 project in Vienna, running 1:59:40.
Kipchoge’s choice of the March 3 Tokyo Marathon means he will not face Kelvin Kiptum, his successor as world marathon record holder, any time before the Olympics in Paris.
Kiptum set the new world marathon record at two hours and 35 seconds at last October’s Chicago Marathon, beating Kipchoge’s previous mark of 2:01:09 set in Berlin last year.
Kiptum, 24, was just four years old when Kipchoge won his track gold in Paris and will be up against the legend in the French capital next August, seeking to throw the spanner in the works and deny his senior a third Olympic gold.
Kiptum has opted to run at the Rotterdam Marathon on April 14, vowing to run a sub-two-hour race to eclipse Kipchoge’s achievement at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.
Also, double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan will continue her marathon adventure at the 17th edition of the Tokyo Marathon on March 3, 2024, alongside Kipchoge, aiming to continue a record-breaking start to life over the distance.
London Marathon champion, Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan, during training in the Netherlands recently. She will compete at the Tokyo Marathon next March.
The Dutch athlete had a spectacular introduction to the marathon, beating what is widely regarded as the best female field ever assembled on debut in London in April, before setting the second-fastest time in history to take the Chicago title in 2:13:44 in October.
That performance will leave the two-time world champion on the track well placed for an assault on the 2:16:02 course record in Tokyo, held by Brigid Kosgei from 2022.
Hassan is eager to return to the city where she won 5,000m and 10,000m Olympic gold in 2021, saying: “I am so excited to announce my participation in my next marathon. I feel Tokyo is the perfect preparation towards the Paris Olympic Games because I have great Olympic memories in the city of Tokyo and I feel I can fuel my Olympic fire there.
“In the streets of Tokyo, I will be looking to continue my marathon journey. I want to learn from every marathon, since every marathon is different and I can’t wait to come to Tokyo.”
Netherlands' Sifan Hassan runs to the line to win the women's race at the finish of the 2023 London Marathon in central London on April 23, 2023.
The World Marathon Majors course sees athletes start by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in the west of the Japanese capital, taking in the city’s rich sights, before finishing by the iconic Imperial Palace in the centre of the metropolis.
Hassan has displayed incredible range this year, winning the World 1,500m bronze in Budapest alongside 5,000m silver, all whilst teaching her body to train over the longer distance.
The European marathon record holder will have an enviable choice to make over what events to choose in Paris, with the Olympic women’s marathon to take place on 11th August after a testing track schedule.
(Additional reporting by Global Sports Communication/ NN Running Team)
