by Deji Ogeyingbo
Eliud Kipchoge has won 4 Olympic medals. Two were golds, in the marathon (2021 and 2024), plus a bronze and a silver at the 5,000 meters (2004 and 2008). Eliud Kipchoge started out running three kilometers back and forth to school (about 1 3/4 miles each way). Eliud won his first title in 2003 at 17, in World Cross Country as a junior. Later that year, at 18, Eliud Kipchoge defeated Hicham El Guerroujj, WR holder in 1,500m and mile, and Kenenisa Bekele, champion at 10,000m and cross country, over 5,000 meters. On Sunday, August 31, Eliud Kipchoge is racing the TCS Sydney Marathon. Eliud has won sixteen of the 22 marathons that he has completed. We wish him the best of luck on Sunday and thank Deji Ogeyinbgo, our RBR Senior writer for African Athletics, for this article.
Eliud Kipchoge has not won a marathon in almost two years. Sydney might just bring good tidings
There is always an aura that the very best of athletes in history always compete with. Even when they lose a few races, runners are still scared to face them. It’s largely because many feel it’s inconceivable to knock them off their perch. At 40 years old, Eliud Kipchoge will be running the Sydney Marathon. He has already defined the modern marathon. Sixteen victories from 22 official marathon races speak to a level of consistency that few athletes achieve. Eleven of those wins came in World Marathon Majors, and an unbeaten streak of ten races between 2014 and 2019 remains unmatched. Olympic gold medals in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021, a second-fastest marathon time in history at 2:01:09, and a career that has spanned more than two decades place Kipchoge among the rarest of talents. Yet the Kenyan has not stood atop the podium in an official marathon since his triumph at the 2023 Berlin Marathon.
His absence from victory in subsequent races has created a quiet tension around his Sydney debut, offering the chance to see a different side of an athlete accustomed to winning. This will be Kipchoge’s first race in Oceania, and his first time running in Sydney. The city’s famous harbour, the Opera House, and its undulating streets present a course unlike those he has dominated in Berlin, London, and Tokyo. He speaks of the experience with anticipation rather than apprehension, noting the opportunity to explore a stunning city while competing against an elite field that includes 15 athletes with personal bests at or faster than the current course record.
Among those chasing him will be his fellow Kenyan Vincent Ngetich, who ran 2:03:13 in the 2023 Berlin Marathon and has finished on the Tokyo podium in 2024 and 2025. Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese, a two-time Tokyo Marathon champion with a personal best of 2:02:48, and Ethiopia’s Wolde, who won the Xiamen Marathon earlier this year in 2:03:48, complete a field that promises a thrilling race. Yet the spotlight remains on Kipchoge, who has built a career that blends excellence with philosophy and performance with purpose.
Kipchoge’s presence in Sydney is a continuation of a lifelong commitment to running as more than a sport. He describes marathon running as a metaphor for life, emphasizing patience, consistency, and determination. In conversations, he moves seamlessly between discussions of training, race strategy, and reflections on endurance and human potential. He credits the challenges of recent years, including his first Did Not Finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics, with teaching lessons that victories alone could not. Patience, the handling of challenges, and the conversion of pain into growth are lessons he shares with anyone willing to listen. Marathon running, for him, mirrors life’s tests. It is about carrying oneself through every kilometer, embracing discomfort, and discovering strength that surfaces only under sustained pressure.
Kipchoge has faced suggestions that his best years are behind him, yet he appears unfazed. He speaks of Sydney with an awareness of the course’s elevation gain of 317 meters, noting the difficulty it presents while remaining focused on performance. He acknowledges that marathons are more competitive than ever, yet his preparation is methodical, ensuring he reaches the start line fit, disciplined, and ready to pursue excellence. In London earlier this year, after finishing sixth, he reflected on the lessons of consistency and patience, understanding that even in a race that did not go according to plan, there is wisdom to be gained. Each finish, each training session, and each challenge has added to the depth of his understanding and further shaped the athlete he is today.
Kipchoge’s reputation as the first human to run a marathon under two hours continues to inspire. The INEOS 1:59 Challenge in 2019 was a moment that captured global attention. Though unofficial in record terms, it revealed what is possible when talent, preparation, and belief converge. It also revealed the qualities that have defined his career: focus, discipline, and an ability to maintain composure under intense pressure. He speaks of these moments with humility, emphasizing the importance of learning, of preparation, and of approaching each race with respect for the distance and its challenges.
The Sydney Marathon represents another chapter in a career that has been defined by exploration and the pursuit of mastery. For Kipchoge, the race is an opportunity to extend his legacy while showing a side of himself shaped by recent challenges and reflections. The finish line is important, but it is the approach, the discipline, and the determination along the way that define him. After a period without marathon victories, Sydney may reveal a renewed focus, patience, and perhaps a different rhythm to his running.
