Eliud Kipchoge, widely regarded as the world’s greatest marathon runner, took a taxi to the finish line after his unexpected withdrawal from the marathon at the Paris Games after 31 kilometers.
The 39-year-old, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, allowed the last-placed runner, Ser-Od Bat-Ochir, to overtake him on Saturday before he handed his shoes and socks to fans and left in an Olympic van. This may have been the final appearance of the legendary athlete at the Olympic Games, as reported by Daily Mail.
Kipchoge, who started strong in the leading pack, fell a minute behind at the halfway mark before ultimately being one of 10 runners unable to finish the marathon. Ethiopian runner Tamirat Tola claimed gold with an Olympic record time of 2:06:26. Great Britain’s Emile Cairess narrowly missed a podium finish, coming in fourth just 27 seconds behind the bronze medalist.
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Kipchoge, once the world record holder, had aimed to become the first man to win three Olympic marathons. Between 2014 and 2019, he dominated the marathon scene with an unbeaten streak across 10 major races.
Before his marathon success, Kipchoge excelled in the 5000 meters, earning a bronze at the 2004 Athens Games and a silver in Beijing in 2008, followed by consecutive marathon golds in Rio and Tokyo.
“It’s tough being at the top… You need to have the sixth sense in order for you to stay at the top,” he told Olympics.com.
“I like the long runs because I am running for long. Makes my mind really work hard for more than two hours. Makes me strong. It makes my mind strong, to be consistent, to respect that pain.
“Everything is a challenge, and the everyday program is a challenge. We have three big days in a week, and we put all our effort there.
“Pain is everywhere, but we say we win marathons in preparations, so the more you get a lot of pain, but you hit your targets in a good way.”
He has been coached by Patrick Sang, a former silver medalist in the 3000m steeplechase since they met when Kipchoge was just 16 years old.
“For 18 years, there is no day Eliud has asked me anything about training…he’s never asked for the plan for the year, the plan for the week, the plan for the month, no,” Sang told Olympics.Com.
