Eliud Kipchoge is the most marathon legend in the world

the kenyan Eliud Kipchoge On September 25, he wrote his name in the history of world athletics in golden letters by achieving a stratospheric record in the Berlin Marathon with a time of 2h01:09, breaking the laws of human limits and getting closer and closer at the mythical two hour barrier in an approved race.

Kipchoge, who already holds the marathon world record with 2h01:39, also achieved in Berlin in 2018, bit his own record and celebrated his fifteenth victory over the distance in a total of seventeen races. In addition, that fourth victory in Berlin tied him with another marathon legend, the Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassiealso a four-time winner in the city of Germany.

The Kenyan athlete tackled the last seventeen kilometers alone, from 25 to 42, after the withdrawal of Philemon Kiplimo, the last of the three hares organized by the organization. He came to make 200 steps per minute with a stride of 180 centimeters, data that is another dimension to his success.

Kipchoge, 38, attributed his performance to the extraordinary natural condition he has for running but also to a demanding work discipline he follows with his team, the NN Running Team, at the Kaptagat camp (Kenya) , where he trains, about 25 kilometers from where his family lives.

The Kenyan athlete has a Spartan discipline that governs his life. He goes to bed at nine in the evening, sleeps eight hours until five in the morning, rests after lunch with a nap, drinks about three liters of water a day, takes care of food with nutritional proportions, practicing two to three times a day , depending on the height of the season, and doing it on a personal level with reading and philosophy.

On a sporting level, he chooses competitions very well, something he can handle and makes him the object of desire in all the great marathons in the world. He doesn’t race much, only in select races where he can make a mark and, in the process, help him increase his economy.

His fixation on challenging human limitations goes back a long way. In fact, in October 2019, he ran a marathon on a closed circuit in the Prater park in Vienna in 1h59:40, in the so-called ‘Ineos 1.59’ challenge. The International Athletics Federation did not consider it because of the favorable conditions in which it was registered, among them the help it received from 41 athletes who, in relays of seven and running in the shape of an arrow, opened of the way for it and cutting the wind during the race. One of them is the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Olympic champion of 1,500 and the world of 5,000.

His most imminent challenge also involves the marathon. He wants to become the first athlete in history to complete the crown of victories in ‘six majors’. So far he has won the London, Berlin, Chicago and Tokyo marathons. Boston and New York remain.

“I am a man who loves to read books and the book in front of me is one of my favorites. It is a book of history, full of memories of a lifetime. The chapters take me to places around the world. There are still many things on my wish list, but the main one is to run six big marathons and win them all: that is my next challenge,” said Kipchoge, who announced that he will run in Boston in April 17, 2023 without closing the door on production. this for seven months later in New York.

The other goal Kipchoge has in mind is to repeat the triplet of victories in Paris 2024 Olympic Games after gold medals in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2021.

There is no doubt that Kipchoge’s name is written in the golden book of world athletics alongside other legends that have endured over time such as Abebe Bikila, Haile Gebrselassie, Emil Zatopek or Paul Tergat.