Kenyan marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum wants to compete with his senior legend Eliud Kipchoge, if selected to represent Kenya at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On October 10, Kiptum returned home and was welcomed as a national hero by hundreds of fans and many Kenyan officials at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. The 23-year-old runner later held a press conference in his honor at the 5-star Weston Hotel.
Kipchoge smiles as he is welcomed at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi on October 10. Photo: Athletics Kenya
Here, Kiptum reiterated that he did not aim to break the world marathon record at the 2023 Chicago Marathon and expressed his admiration for Kipchoge. "It would be interesting to compete against Kipchoge, who has inspired many others. My dream has always been to compete for Kenya and I am ready to race against Kipchoge in Paris next summer," the 23-year-old runner emphasized.
On the Chicago track on October 8, Kiptum continued to make waves when he won with a record of 2 hours 35 seconds, 34 seconds faster than Kipchoge's old milestone - 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds set at Berlin 2022.
This is only Kiptum's third time running the 42.195km distance, and he currently holds three of the six all-time bests. At the 2022 Valencia Marathon, Kiptum won in 2:01:53, becoming the fastest marathon debutant in history. Five months later, the 23-year-old improved his PB to win the London Marathon in 2:01:25, setting a new race record.
“My dream was to one day hold the world record in the marathon,” Kiptum continued. “I was planning to do it in Chicago, but next year or 2025. Luckily I did it earlier and the dream came true. I am very happy.”
Kiptum said he has not been in contact with his countryman since breaking the world record in Chicago. "I have not spoken to Kipchoge, and I don't know if he has talked about the Chicago Marathon," the 1999-born runner said.
Compare the parameters of the two most recent marathon world records through each split run of Kiptum at Chicago 2023 and Kipchoge at Berlin 2022.
Kipchoge won gold medals in the last two Olympics, with 2 hours 8 minutes 38 seconds at Tokyo 2020, and 2 hours 8 minutes 44 seconds at Rio 2016. 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).
With the world marathon record, Kiptum is expected to break Kipchoge's dominance at Paris 2024. In addition to competing for gold, the Kenyan duo could break the Olympic record of 2 hours 6 minutes 32 seconds set by another Kenyan athlete - Samuel Wanjiru - at Beijing 2008.
Kiptum stressed that his success was due to hard work, and revealed that he did not change his training methods before breaking the world record. When asked about becoming the first athlete to run a sub-2 marathon in an official race, Kiptum replied: "Anything is possible if you train well. I want to keep improving my PB."
Also at the Weston Hotel on October 10, Kenyan Sports Minister Ababu Namwamba awarded Kiptum 5 million shillings (Kenyan currency), equivalent to 33,880 USD. This is the reward from the Kenyan government for Kiptum's achievement at the Chicago Marathon.
Kiptum received an award from the Kenyan government at a meeting honoring him on October 10, following his world record-setting feat at the 2023 Chicago Marathon. Photo: X / @cjkaroney
The 23-year-old runner is the second athlete to benefit from the Kenyan government's new incentive program. In June 2023, female runner Faith Chepngetich received cash and a house worth nearly $100,000 after breaking the 1,500m and 5,000m world records.
At that time, Kenyan President William Ruto announced that the Kenyan government would award any runner in the country a reward of 5 million shillings if they broke the world record. This was an unprecedented recognition in the history of Kenyan sports.
Hong Duy
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