Eliud Kipchoge
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Eliud Kipchoge is the fastest marathon runner in the world, over many years he has set countless records. At the same time, his career started in his younger years rather from an emergency situation and he had to fight his way from the very bottom to the top of the marathon runners. Three times Kipchoge won an Olympic medal. He went down in history as the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, and at the age of just 18, the Kenyan became the world champion in the 5000-meter race. Despite his many successes, Eliud Kipchoge has remained an extremely modest person and continues to impress with his down-to-earth lifestyle:
Eliud Kipochoge will make sports history again on 25.09.2022. Already in 2018, the two-time Olympic champion set a world record (2:01:39) at the same venue. However, he was able to beat this best time again in 2022. Eliud reached the half marathon mark after an incredible 59:51 minutes. After only 2:01:09 hours, the Kenyan ran beaming into the finish line. What an achievement! He almost completed the 42.195 kilometers in less than two hours. Maybe that will work out next year.
Eliud Kipchoge is the greatest in his discipline, breaking one world record after another. But that was not always the case. The marathon runner grew up in poor circumstances and had to work hard to make his way to the top of the world's runners. Even the disease malaria could not dissuade him from his plans. Precisely because this disease plays a major role in Eliud Kipchoge's life, he has joined forces with the "Zero Malaria" organization to fight and eradicate malaria. For us, a true role model from whom one can learn above all willpower and perseverance.
Early in his career, Kipchoge didn't even come close to competing at the district level. He began training on his own motivation shortly after graduating from high school and initially finished second overall in 2001 while competing in a jackpot series of races. He was then discovered by manager Jos Hermens and by that year he had crossed the finish line as the winner of the junior race at Kenya's Trials and was thus selected for the 2002 World Cross Championships in Dublin. Then, however, his career was slowed down: Kipchoge fell ill shortly before the World Championships and again afterwards, among other things with malaria. Once he had fully recovered, however, there was no stopping him and his career took off. Today, Kipchoge is working with the organization "Zero Malaria" to fight the disease that threatened his career.
Eliud Kipchoge took the title as the greatest marathon runner of all time in Berlin in September 2018 with a time of 2:01:39 hours. Kipchoge even managed to break the two-hour mark at the marathon in Vienna in 2019, clocking a record time (not officially valid) of 1:59.40 hours: This makes him the first person to achieve a time of under 2 hours in a marathon. In addition, he won the gold medal in the marathon at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016 and in Tokyo in 2021, among others, and won an Olympic medal two other times. Overall, Kipchoge holds several records that remain unbeaten to this day.
Originally, Eliud Kipchoge had not even planned to pursue a career as a runner; instead, he actually wanted to start studying human resources management. However, this dream remained unfulfilled because his family lacked the necessary money to enable him to study. So Kipchoge looked for a way to earn money and thus started running. Already as a child he was used to marching many kilometers to school and in the highlands of Kenya a runner has the chance to earn a regular income - and so Kipchoge started running at the age of 16. His hard training paid off: Kipochge won the Junior World Championship title as well as several victories in cross country or even on the track. Thus, he gradually developed into today's Olympic champion and world record holder in marathon running.
| Year | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 1500m | 3:33.20 |
| 2004 | 5000m | 12:46.53 |
| 2007 | 10000m | 26:49.02 |
| 2011 | 3000m | 7:27.66 |
| 2012 | Half Marathon | 59:25 |
| 2016 | Marathon | 2:03:05 |
| 2018 | Marathon | 2:01:39 |
| 2019 | Marathon | 1:59.40 (not official) |
| 2022 | Marathon | 2:01:09 |
Kipchoge has remained incredibly modest despite his countless successes, which are associated with high prize money. He still lives with his family in Kenya in Eldoret and trains from Monday to Saturday in a nearby training camp in Kaptagat. Here, nothing resembles luxury accommodation and the runners spend a simple, uncomplicated and down-to-earth life. They cook their own food, take care of the cleanliness in their rooms and fetch their drinking water from a nearby well - including millionaire Kipchoge. On Sundays, the world record holder prefers to attend church with his wife and three children. Religion plays a very important role in his life so that he doesn't let it deter him from his goals. And his fortune? The marathon runner has invested it down-to-earth in a farm and other real estate.
| Sport: | Long distance runner |
| Nationality: | Kenya |
| Birthday: | November 05. 1984 |
| Born in: | Kapsisiywa, Kapsabet |
| Place of residence: | Eldoret |
| Height: | 167 cm |
| Estimated net worth: | 2.5 million euros |
| Coach: | Patrick Sang |
| National squad: | Since 2002 |
| Followers on Instagram: | 1.4 million |
| Wife: | Grace Sugutt |
