Eliud Kipchoge in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympic Games (© AFP / Getty Images)
Men's marathon
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• Eliud Kipchoge’s form in doubt as he seeks third Olympic marathon win
• At 41, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele maintains rivalry with reigning Olympic champion
• Benson Kipruto feeling confident after wins in Tokyo, Boston and Chicago in recent years
Eliud Kipchoge will be in Paris at the age of 37 seeking to earn a third consecutive Olympic title, but his performance in the Tokyo Marathon on 3 March was far from the ideal preparation.
After finishing 10th, the worst result of a peerless marathon career that began in 2013, he commented: “I didn't sleep for three days and I've never been so bad.”
He finished in 2:06:50, more than four minutes behind the winner, fellow Kenyan Benson Kipruto, who clocked 2:02:16, the fastest time recorded this year.
That performance has elevated Kipruto, 33, into one of the favourites in Paris. His compatriot Timothy Kiplagat finished 39 seconds behind him in the second fastest time of the season, but did not make the Olympic team.
Nobody will be writing off Kipchoge’s prospects in Paris, however, given his extraordinary record on the roads, where he has run four of the 10 fastest times recorded.
But all the expectations of success for Kenya are edged with sadness and the thought of what might have been had their new world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum not died in a car crash in February, five days after his Chicago Marathon time of 2:00:35 – bettering Kipchoge’s mark of 2:01:09 at the 2022 Berlin Marathon – had been ratified by World Athletics.
Until that awful event, the athletics world had been speculating on what might unfold on the streets of the French capital when the two men met in competition for the first time.
Kipchoge will, however, resume a longstanding rivalry with another legend of the sport, Ethiopia’s 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele.
The latter, who won three Olympic and five world golds over 5000m and 10,000m before turning to the marathon, last competed at the Games in 2012, when he was fourth in the 10,000m in London.
After failing to make the Olympic team in 2016 and 2021, he earned his place in Paris with an astonishing performance at the London Marathon in April, where he finished second in 2:04:15, 14 seconds behind Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso Munyao, who is the third selected member of the Kenyan team.
Coincidentally, Bekele and Kipchoge’s rivalry started in Paris, where the latter won the 5000m title from Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj, who would win 1500m and 5000m gold at the following year’s Olympics in Athens, with Kipchoge taking bronze.
The last time the two men raced together was at the London Marathon in 2018 when Kipchoge won.
Bekele’s teammates will also be formidable.
Deresa Geleta won this year’s Seville Marathon in a course record time of 2:03:27, setting his personal best and becoming the 20th fastest marathon runner in history.
And Sisay Lemma produced a dominant performance at the Boston Marathon on 15 April, finishing 41 seconds clear in 2:06:17, the fourth fastest in the race’s history.
“I previously didn’t finish in this race, so I wanted redemption for that, that’s why I came,” said Lemma, who last year moved to fourth on the world all-time list with his 2:01:48 victory in Valencia. “Thankfully I was able to redeem myself, so I’m happy. My plan was to break the course record, but the hills at the end made me really tired.
“The reason I raced in Boston is because the course is similar to the Olympic one, so hopefully this will be good preparation for the Paris Games.”
The last Ethiopian to win the men’s Olympic marathon title was Gezahegne Abera at the 2004 Athens Games.
Meanwhile the men who followed Kipchoge home at the Tokyo Olympics are contesting places on the podium once again – silver medallist Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands, ninth on this year’s world list after winning the Rotterdam Marathon in 2:04:45, and bronze medallist Bashir Abdi of Belgium.
Uganda’s team includes world champion Victor Kiplangat. A 2:05:09 performer at his best, Kiplangat has a season’s best of 2:07:44.
Others to watch out for include the Eritrean trio of Samson Amare, Berhane Tesfay and Henok Tesfay, Italy’s European half marathon champion and 2022 10,000m champion Yemaneberhan Crippa and Britain’s Emile Cairess.
Women's marathon
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• Ethiopia has high hopes for world record-holder Tigist Assefa
• Kenya’s defending champion Peres Jepchirchir beat Assefa in London
• Sifan Hassan, looking at four events in Paris, may choose marathon run after setting world’s second fastest time
Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa emerged as a major candidate for Olympic gold in Paris when she set a world record of 2:11:53 at last year’s Berlin Marathon, trimming more than two minutes from the time Brigid Kosgei of Kenya had set at the 2019 Chicago Marathon.
It was a stunning achievement for the then 26-year-old former 800m specialist in what was only her third marathon.
She was not the only newcomer to this event to catch the eye, as Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, the current Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion, won the 2023 London Marathon on her debut at the distance, and then produced the second best time ever in winning the Chicago Marathon in October in 2:13:44.
But this year’s London Marathon offered evidence that Kenya’s current Olympic champion, Peres Jepchirchir, is not about to give up her title lightly as she won in a women’s only world record of 2:16:16, with Assefa finishing second in 2:16:23, one place ahead of Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, with Ethiopian Megertu Alemu finishing third.
The latter three runners also beat the previous women's only record of 2:17:01, set by Kenya’s Mary Keitany in 2017.
Assefa and Alemu are in the Ethiopian team for Paris. Kenya, meanwhile, has a potent team featuring 2022 New York winner Sharon Lokedi and Hellen Obiri, twice world 5000m champion and twice Olympic 5000m silver medallist, who turned to marathon running last year with extraordinary and consistent success.
In 2023 Obiri won the Boston Marathon on her debut at the distance, clocking 2:21:38, adding the New York title before returning to Boston this year to retain her title in 2:22:37.
In March 2024 Hassan finished fourth in the Tokyo Marathon, clocking 2:18:05. It remains to be seen what impact, if any, this result will have on her eventual competition choices for Paris, where she is considering taking part in a range of events from 1500m to the marathon.
Speaking after finishing fifth in the 1500m in Hengelo on 7 July, Hassan commented: “I don't think it says anything about the shape I'm in. I still have three weeks to have good training and then I will decide which distances I will run in Paris. At this moment I don't have a goal for Paris, but for now I want to be the best in all distances and then I will decide.”
Bahrain’s 2017 world champion Rose Chelimo and Eunice Chumba could also make an impact. USA’s Fiona O’Keeffe, Japan’s Asian record-holder Honami Maeda, Morocco’s world bronze medallist Fatima Gardadi and Tanzania’s Magdalena Shauri are all ones to watch.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
