Yahoo News Can anyone beat Eliud Kipchoge at the London Marathon?
Can anyone stop Eliud Kipchoge? For 10 straight marathons, and six straight years, the answer has been a firm 'no.'
The Olympic champion and world record holder has stamped his supremacy on the 26.2-mile distance like no one before. In an event filled with uncertainty, where the only thing harder than getting to the top is staying there, he has become the safest bet in sports.
But at the 40th edition of the London Marathon this Sunday, Kipchoge, 35, will square off with an athlete who could give him cause for concern.
Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia is a man who once dominated Kipchoge on the track and an athlete with the credentials to also ruffle his feathers on the road. A three-time Olympic gold medalist, the 38-year-old has been written off many times, yet he has a habit of mounting a comeback when you least expect it.
That’s exactly what he did in Berlin last year, with his 2:01:41 falling just two seconds short of Kipchoge’s world record. Two weeks later, Kipchoge shot back with his 1:59:40 in Vienna at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, which didn’t count for record purposes. But the message was clear: In this domain, he was still the boss.
Kipchoge hasn’t raced since then, but he has had a strong preparation and arrives to the London Marathon’s race bubble in flying form. For much of his buildup, however, he was unable to train with his usual large group in Kaptagat.
'It was really difficult for us athletes in Kenya and Africa in general,' Kipchoge said during Wednesday’s prerace news conference. 'For the last 17 years I’ve been with the whole team, training with 10 to 20 people. This (pandemic) came in like an electric shock where everyone started to train in isolation or even skip training. But I tried to hold pace to make sure I’m fit and get a high level of training. Lately I consolidated the whole team together and training, actually, was good.'
Bekele, meanwhile, had difficulty accessing his usual training locations because of the restrictions in Ethiopia, and he also lost time due to small training pains. 'Because of COVID-19 sometimes it’s not going as perfect as I planned,' Bekele said today. 'More or less, I prepared well.'
Asked about the rapid development in shoe technology in recent years, Kipchoge struck a familiar tone: 'We live in the 21st century whereby we need to accept change,' he said. 'Development goes hand in hand with technology. We need to accept technology in our hearts and move on.'
Bekele will race in the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% on Sunday, which he wore in Berlin last year, while Kipchoge will opt for the Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next%, which he introduced to the world in Vienna last fall.
The two athletes have been rivals since 2003, when Kipchoge outkicked Bekele to win the world 5,000-meter title in Paris, and in that time the mutual respect between them has only grown.
'I respect the humanity, the success, the mentality of Kenenisa,' Kipchoge said. 'Being able to train and be disciplined even after huge, huge success.'
Bekele was equally gracious.'I respect him as an athlete,' he said. 'What he did is a really great thing for the sport.'
Kipchoge has a flawless record in London—four runs, four wins (including the course record of 2:02:37 set in 2019)—but this year’s race will take place in a far less familiar format. Instead of the usual 26.2-mile course that snakes through the city, athletes will run 19.6 laps of a 2.15-kilometre loop around St. James’s Park before reaching the usual finish on The Mall.
The effort by organisers in getting it over the line has been immense. They chartered a plane last week to transport athletes from Kenya and Ethiopia, while every athlete and member of support staff was tested for COVID-19 before traveling to London, upon arrival at the meet hotel, and they will have their final batch of tests on Friday, 48 hours before the race.
Degitu Azimerew, a 2:19 marathoner who was a leading entrant in the women’s race and coach Haji Adilo tested positive in Ethiopia, so they did not travel to London. Runners have been based in a biosecure bubble at a hotel outside the city with 40 acres of ground on which to train, while they’ve also been wearing a 'bump technology' device around their necks that records time spent in close proximity to others.
While both Kipchoge and Bekele were tight-lipped around their desired pace on Sunday, it’s expected a first half of 61 minutes or faster will be requested. The course is flat and fast, so Kipchoge’s 2:01:39 world record is not out of the question.
Organisers are hoping the forecasted rain won’t arrive when the races get under way on Sunday morning, with the women setting off at 7:15 a.m and the men at 10:15 a.m.
While Bekele admitted he would much rather a point-to-point course, saying 'it gets boring repeating the same lap multiple times,' Kipchoge was unconcerned with the layout.
'The laps will be okay, there will be no problem,' he said. 'I think the race will be really beautiful.'
Victory this year would make Kipchoge the oldest ever winner of the men’s race in London. Still he shows no signs of slowing down, and if there’s one thing that fuels him it’s the inspiration his feats give to the masses.
'I have shown the way that running under 2 hours is possible,' he said. 'I’ve done my part to show that anything is possible.'
While fans are savouring a clash between two distance-running titans, it’s unwise to discount their chief rivals. Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew finished second in 2:02:55 last year, just 18 seconds behind Kipchoge, while Mule Wasihun—third last year in 2:03:16—is also back. Fellow Ethiopian Shura Kitata finished second in London and New York in 2018 and is sure to go close again, while Sisay Lemma, third in Berlin last year in 2:03:36, is another to watch.
It’s no surprise that this year’s prize money has taken a hit, with the winner earning $30,000 compared to $55,000 last year. But in a year blighted by cancellations, race director Hugh Brasher believes the event will be a 'beacon of light in the darkness” that will “show the power of the family of making coming together.'
While the action in the biosphere will be elite-only, 45,000 runners have signed up to run the virtual London Marathon, with 150,000 school children expected to race a mini-marathon of 2.6 miles at various locations over the coming week.
As Brasher put it: 'The 40th race is very different, but it’s going to be remembered forever.'
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