55 Facts About Eliud Kipchoge

Eliud Kipchoge has run four of the six fastest marathons in history.

Eliud Kipchoge switched to road running in 2012 and made the second-fastest half marathon debut ever, at 59:25.

Eliud Kipchoge has won the London Marathon a record four times and shares the record for most Berlin Marathon wins with four, tied with Haile Gebrselassie.

On 12 October 2019, Eliud Kipchoge ran the marathon distance for the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, achieving a time of 1:59:40.2.

Eliud Kipchoge was appointed Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 20 October 2019 in recognition of his sub-two-hour marathon.

Eliud Kipchoge was named the 2019 BBC World Sport Star of the Year.

Eliud Kipchoge was born on 5 November 1984 in Kapsisiywa, Nandi County, in Kenya.

Eliud Kipchoge graduated from the Kaptel Secondary School in Nandi County in 1999 but did not run seriously or as a profession then.

Eliud Kipchoge ran three kilometres to school on a daily basis.

Eliud Kipchoge was raised by a single mother, and only knew his father from pictures.

Eliud Kipchoge met his trainer Patrick Sang in 2001 at the age of 16.

At the World Cross Country Championships, held in Dublin, Eliud Kipchoge finished fifth in the individual race and was part of the Kenyan junior team that won gold.

Eliud Kipchoge won the 5000 metres race at the Kenyan trial for the 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics but fell ill and missed the championships.

Eliud Kipchoge won the junior race at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

Eliud Kipchoge won a gold medal at the 5000 m final at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, outsprinting runner-up Hicham El Guerrouj, the world record holder in the 1500 metres and mile, by four hundredths of a second in 12:52.79.

In 2004, Eliud Kipchoge won a bronze medal at the 5000 m final at the 2004 Athens Olympics, behind El Guerrouj and Kenenisa Bekele.

Eliud Kipchoge won the Trofeo Alasport cross country race earlier that season.

Eliud Kipchoge won the bronze in the 3000 metres indoor at the 2006 World Championships in Moscow.

Eliud Kipchoge failed to reach the podium at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, finishing in fifth place.

Eliud Kipchoge then entered the Carlsbad 5000 in California, United States.

Eliud Kipchoge made a world best attempt, and although he won the race, weather affected his chances, and he finished in 13:11, the fourth-fastest ever for the course up to that point in time.

Ugandan runner Moses Kipsiro held a slender lead over him in the race's final stages, and Eliud Kipchoge ended up in second place, taking the silver medal some seven-hundredths of a second behind.

Eliud Kipchoge flew back to Europe immediately after to take part in the Belgrade Race through History the following day.

Eliud Kipchoge's shoe fell off in the first kilometre, and, after putting it back on, he made up much ground on the field to eventually take second place two seconds behind Josphat Menjo.

Eliud Kipchoge returned to the Edinburgh Cross Country in 2012, but this time he finished third behind Asbel Kiprop and Britain's Jonathan Hay.

Eliud Kipchoge made his half marathon debut in the Lille Half Marathon.

The run was won by a new course record time of 59:05 by Ezekiel Chebii, trailed by Bernard Koech 59:10, and Eliud Kipchoge earned a third place with 59:25.

On 6 October 2012, Eliud Kipchoge ran at the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Kavarna, Bulgaria.

Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea won in 1:00:19 and Eliud Kipchoge placed sixth in 1:01:52.

Eliud Kipchoge opened his 2013 season with a win at the Barcelona Half Marathon in a time of one hour and four seconds.

Eliud Kipchoge ran 2:04:42 to win the 2015 London Marathon in April.

Eliud Kipchoge won the 2015 Berlin Marathon later in the year.

Eliud Kipchoge's performance broke the course record in London and became the second-fastest marathon time in history, missing Dennis Kimetto's world record by 8 seconds.

Eliud Kipchoge covered the first half of the race in 1:05:55 while doing the second half in 1:02:49, which amounts to a difference of more than 3 minutes, a negative split.

Eliud Kipchoge's winning time of 2:08:44 was, as of August 2021, his slowest marathon time.

On 20 November 2016, Eliud Kipchoge ran in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, winning the race, clocking a time of 59:44.

Eliud Kipchoge finished in 2:00:25, while the other two had to slow and finished far behind.

Eliud Kipchoge won the London Marathon against a field that included Mo Farah, Kenenisa Bekele, and defending champion Daniel Wanjiru.

On 16 September, Eliud Kipchoge won the 2018 Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:01:39, breaking the previous world record by 1 minute and 18 seconds.

Eliud Kipchoge finished 4:43 min ahead of second-placed fellow Kenyan Amos Kipruto.

Eliud Kipchoge was named IAAF World Athlete of the Year together with Caterine Ibarguen, who received the female World Athlete of the Year award.

On 11 January 2019, Eliud Kipchoge was named the 2018 Sportsman of the Year at the Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year Awards in Mombasa, Kenya.

Eliud Kipchoge won the 2019 London Marathon in a time of 2:02:37, the second fastest marathon of all time, behind his 2018 Berlin Marathon win.

Eliud Kipchoge became the first man to win the event four times and set a new course record, beating his own 2016 London Marathon best by 28 seconds.

In May 2019, a few days after his London Marathon win, Eliud Kipchoge announced another take on the sub-two-hour marathon, named the Ineos 1:59 Challenge.

Specifically, it was not an open event; Eliud Kipchoge was handed fluids by his support team throughout; the run featured a pace car and included rotating teams of other runners pacing Eliud Kipchoge in a formation designed to reduce wind resistance and maximise efficiency.

Eliud Kipchoge placed 8th in the 2020 London Marathon in October with a time of 2:06:49, the lowest finish of his marathoning career.

Eliud Kipchoge successfully defended his title from the Rio Olympics by winning the gold medal in the men's marathon at the Tokyo Games in a time of 2:08:38, becoming only the third person to successfully defend their gold medal in the men's marathon, after Abebe Bikila in 1960 and 1964, and Waldemar Cierpinski in 1976 and 1980.

Eliud Kipchoge won by 80 seconds, the largest margin in 49 years.

Eliud Kipchoge was the oldest Olympic marathon winner since Carlos Lopes won in 1984 at the age of 37.

On 25 September, Eliud Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon decisively in a time of 2:01:09, beating by 30 seconds his own previous world record, which he set on the same course in 2018.

Eliud Kipchoge finished 4:49 min ahead of second-placed compatriot Mark Korir while Ethiopia's Tadu Abate took third place with a time of 2:06:28.

Eliud Kipchoge achieved halfway in 59:51 which, being at the time, the fastest split in marathon history, would have been a world record in the standalone half-marathon in 1993, and was only 26 seconds off his best in that distance.

Eliud Kipchoge slowed down later with second half in 61:18.

Eliud Kipchoge suffered a third defeat of his marathon career, finishing sixth with a time of 2:09:23.