“I was shocked that people on social media platforms were saying: Eliud is involved in this boy’s death,” Kipchoge, 39, said. “This was the worst news ever in my life.”
Kelvin Kiptum died in February in a single-vehicle car accident. He was 24 years old and was considered the greatest talent of the marathon. In Chicago in the autumn of 2023, he set the world record at 2h00:35. In the years before that, Kipchoge was the record holder.
“I received very nasty messages,” Kipchoge said. “My training camp would be burned down, my house, my belongings, my family. It didn’t happen, but it is how the world works. My biggest concern was the safety of my family, that something would happen to my children.”
Kipchoge did not allow himself to be restrained by the hate campaign. “My life takes place outdoors. I just run through the streets here. It was painful to experience that even many of my friends spoke badly about me. That touched me.”
The running legend’s form suffered, he said. He finished tenth in the Tokyo Marathon in March, two and a half minutes behind winner Benson Kipruto. It was his worst result since 2013. “In Tokyo I couldn’t sleep for three days because of worries.”
Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon five times in his career. In 2019, in Vienna, with the help of a large group of pacers, he was the first man to run the distance of 42.195 kilometers under two hours (1h59:40), but that time has never been officially recognized. In Paris he can become the first athlete ever with three Olympic titles in the marathon.
