World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge will grace the Berlin Marathon for a fifth time on September 24.
A year after obliterating his world record when he clocked 2:01:09 last year, the two-time Olympic champion will be aiming for a fifth crown in a competition in which he has utterly dominated since he first competed in 2013.
The two-time Olympic marathon champion has won four titles at this World Marathon Majors event and has become synonymous with success whenever he competes on this circuit.
The man dubbed the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), will be aiming to atone for his poor performance at the Boston Marathon in April, where he finished a disappointing sixth in 2:09:23.
In a statement, Kipchoge said: “On my road to the Paris Olympics, I would like to go back to the Berlin Marathon since this will grant me perfect preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. I have great memories of Germany City and I look forward to running the streets of Berlin again together with the thousands of fans that will join,” added Kipchoge.
Kipchoge has a near-perfect record in the German capital, having finished as runners-up in 2013—only his second marathon, where he clocked 2:04:05 with former world record holder Wilson Kipsang winning the event in 2:03:23
The 38-year-old, whose first global title was over 5,000m at the 2003 Paris World Championships, will be eyeing a third successive Olympic Marathon gold in the French capital next year after winning in both Rio and Tokyo.
In the women’s race, Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui will be hoping to dethrone defending champion Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia who clocked a personal best of 2:15:17 to win last year’s race. The win saw Assefa become the third-fastest female marathoner of all time.
The world 10,000m bronze medalist will be hoping for better returns than her last 42km race at the London Marathon in April, where she finished fourth.
Kenya’s Kipchoge improved his own world record by half a minute to record an impressive 2:01:09 when winning last year’s Berlin Marathon. That followed his previous victories secured in the German capital in 2015, 2017 and 2018, the latter in the then world record of 2:01:39.
Among Kipchoge’s challengers will be his compatriot Amos Kipruto, who is the 2019 world bronze medallist and last year’s winner of the London Marathon. He has a personal best of 2:03:13 posted while finishing second to Kipchoge in last year’s Tokyo Marathon.
The pair have so far clashed three times in the 42km race— once in Berlin, where Kipruto finished second in 2:06:23 behind Kipchoge’s world record run in 2018; once in Tokyo last year, where Kipchoge won in 2:02:40; and once at the Olympic Games in Japan, where Kipchoge won and Kipruto did not finish.
