Germany's Eliud Kipchoge is disappointed he hasn't broken his own world record, but sees winning the 2023 Berlin Marathon as a stepping stone towards setting another record at Paris 2024.
Kipchoge had hoped to break his own record from last year, but faced some challenges on the course in Berlin on 24 September. "I wanted to break the record, but it didn't come as I expected and that's sport," he said after defending his title. "I was in good shape, but I had hiccups, which is normal in a race. I won but I didn't break the world record."
Kipchoge finished the 2023 Berlin Marathon on September 24. Photo: Reuters
The legendary Kenyan runner insists he is still learning through each marathon and sees winning Berlin 2023 as the perfect experience to aim for becoming the first athlete to win three marathon medals at Paris 2024. "It's a learning process and the focus is on using that experience at next year's Olympics," he said.
Kipchoge won gold at Tokyo 2021 in 2 hours 8 minutes 38 seconds and Rio 2016 in 2 hours 8 minutes 44 seconds. He is the third runner to win the men's marathon at two consecutive Olympics, after Ethiopian Abebe Bikila (1960 and 1964) and East German Waldemar Cierpinski (1976 and 1980).
In addition to his goal of becoming the first athlete to win three marathon medals, Kipchoge could also set a new Olympic record at Paris 2024. The current Olympic record is 2 hours 6 minutes 32 seconds, set by another Kenyan athlete - Samuel Wanjiru - at Beijing 2008.
Ahead of the 2023 Berlin Marathon, Kipchoge said he had achieved everything in his career and considered continuing to break records a joy. "I still have the desire to break the world record and make history. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it makes me happy," the 38-year-old runner shared.
The moment Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon 2023.
Kipchoge is under pressure ahead of the 2023 Berlin Marathon, having failed in Boston in April. At that time, he finished sixth in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 23 seconds, his worst result in 20 marathons since the beginning of his career and his first defeat since London in October 2020.
Despite failing to break his own world record, Kipchoge still had a successful race, becoming the first person to win the Berlin Marathon five times. On X - the social network formerly known as Twitter - the 38-year-old runner shared his joy with his fans. He wrote: "Becoming the first person to win the Berlin Marathon five times is something I could only dream of. We have created so many historical feats together that I cannot put into words the feeling I have when running on these streets. Thank you to all the fans in the stadium today."
The Berlin Marathon is an annual race held in Berlin, a member of the six largest races in the world - World Marathon Majors (WMM), along with races in New York, Boston, Chicago, London and Tokyo.
In addition to setting a record at Paris 2024, Kipchoge has expressed his desire to win all six majors, and is also aiming to achieve this goal with victories in Boston and New York. The Kenyan legend has won the WMM 11 times, including four times in Berlin, four times in London (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019), once each in Chicago (2014) and Tokyo (2021).
Hong Duy
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