Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon stand on the threshold of immortality today as they seek to become the first human beings to win three back-toback Olympic gold medals in the marathon and 1,500 metres, respectively.
Kipchoge leads compatriots - this year’s London Marathon winner Alexander Munyao and Tokyo Marathon champion Benson Kipruto - in today’s marathon that will start at Hotel de Ville at 8am (9am Kenyan time) and circulate around the city to the Esplanade des Invalides finish, close by the 1706 golden domed structure that’s the resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte, he of the French revolution fame.
The heat of Paris could make the race quite a challenge but there’s nothing that can strike panic on Kipchoge who has won 11 majors marathons between 2014 and 2023, including five victories in Berlin (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023) and four in London (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019).
Kipchoge is also a two-time World Championships’ 5,000m medallist (2003 gold, 2007 silver), and a finalist three more times (2005, 2009, 2011).
It is in Paris that he won his first major global title, the 5,000m gold at the Stade de France in 2003.
The most decorated marathoner, Kipchoge boasts numerous awards and accolades including the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports (2023); Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Best Male Athlete of Tokyo 2020 (2021); Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (2019); BBC World Sport Star of the Year (2019) and Laureus Academy's Exceptional Achievement Award (2019).
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge celebrates after winning the Berlin Marathon race on September 25, 2022 in Berlin. Kipchoge has beaten his own world record by 29 seconds, running 2:01:10 at the Berlin Marathon.
Photo credit: Tobias Schwarz | AFP
Other decorations include IAAF Male Athlete of the Year (2018, 2019); Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022) and Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) Best Male marathon runner (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018).
His then world record two hours, one minute and nine seconds makes him the fastest in the field today with his nemesis since Stade de France in 2003, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, only 32 second slower at 2:01:41.
Benson Kipruto is one of the dark horses this morning, seeking to bank on a winning family tradition that has seen his brother Dickson Chumba win the 2014 Tokyo Marathon and 2015 Chicago Marathon (personal best of 2:04:32 at the 2014 Chicago Marathon) and wife Hellen Chepkorir a 2:34:16 marathoner and eighth-placed at the 2017 Kosice Marathon in Slovakia.
Kipruto won this year’s Tokyo Marathon in a personal best 2:02:16 and was second behind Kenya’s late world record holder Kelvin Kiptum when Kiptum ran 2:00:35, the current world record, at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. Mutiso is globally experienced having set up his base in Japan for over 10 years, running for the ND Soft Corporate Running Team in Nanyo, Yamagata Prefecture.
He made his marathon debut in Valencia in December 2022 where he placed third in 2:03:29 and in 2023, he won the Prague Marathon, improving his personal best to 2:03:11 in Valencia, where he finished second. On the track, Mutiso is a bronze medallist at the 2013 World Under-18 Championships.
“We are waiting for our men to hit the road,” Team Kenya coach Boniface Tiren said at the Olympic Village yesterday as Kipchoge, Kipruto and Munyao kept their cards close to their chests. “They are prepared physically, spiritually and psychologically, and they know the task they have ahead, carrying the expectations of 50 million Kenyans.
“The experience of Kipchoge, Mutiso and Kipruto will hold them in good stead and I’d like to assure Kenyans that our flagbearers will not let us down. They will run as a team and they know they are running for the 50 million Kenyans.” By winning at Paris 2024, Kipchoge would join Jamaica’s Usain Bolt as the only men to win three times in the same running event at the Olympic Games.
Bolt achieved this in both the 100m and 200m in 2008 (Beijing), 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio de Janeiro). Uganda’s Vincent Kiplangat, who won the marathon gold at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2:08:53, poses a major threat to the Kenyan charge alongside Ethiopians Bekele and Tamirat Tola and Belgium’s Abdi Bashir.
After today’s morning marathon programme, Kenya will have other finals lined up tonight in the men’s 800m (8.05pm Kenyan time), men’s 5,000m (8.50pm) and women’s 1,500m.
In the 1,500m, Faith Kipyegon is primed to become the first athlete – man or woman – to win three back-to-back Olympic titles after victories in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021.
“I’m really looking forward for the final now. My plan was one race at a time, now I focus on the final. I’m happy that I ran comfortably today. It’s totally good. I really thank God,” Kipyegon said after Thursday’s semi-finals.
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Photo credit: Photo | Joan Pereruan
She will team up with the dark horse, the experienced, well-read 28-year-old Susan Ejore a graduate in Psychology from the University of Oregon, skills she will certainly hope will come into play when the Kenyan pair take the battle to Ethiopian nemesis Gudaf Tsegay who will also line up tonight.
Ejore also boasts an associate's degree in Medical and Clinical Assisting from Monroe College in New York. Interestingly, Ejore took up running after high school chasing a scholarship to the US. She joined a training camp in Keringet, Kipyegon’s home base, from where she landed in Monroe College.
She booked her spot at Paris 2024 by finishing third at the Olympic Trials in Nairobi, a fitting reward after twice finishing fourth at the world championships trials (in 2022 in the 1,500m, and in 2023 in the 800m). Meanwhile, Kenya’s campaigners in the men’s 5,000m final tonight – Edwin Kurgat, Jacob Krop and Ronald Kwemoi – will have to closely watch Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet after the initial expected challenge from Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo evaporated after the Ugandans failed to enter the 12-and-a-half lap race.
Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen did not run this event at Tokyo 2020, but won the 5,000m at the 2022 (Eugene) and 2023 (Budapest) World Athletics Championships and will be looking to bounce back after the disappointment of failing to medal in the 1,500m.
