Kipchoge's Olympic marathon winning shoe goes on exhibition
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge (left) celebrates next to USA's Galen Rupp after winning the men's Marathon athletics event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Sambodromo in Rio de Janeiro on August 21, 2016. PHOTO | OLIVIER MORIN |
What you need to know:
- A statement from IAAF indicated that president Sebastian Coe together with Dahlan Al Hamad, Vice President and Director General of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 Local Organising Committee, will officially open the Heritage Exhibition at Doha’s city centre’s largest shopping mall on April 18.
- The 400m2 exhibition will feature the world’s largest ever display of athletics artefacts and memorabilia, dating from 2nd Century B.C. to the present day.
Reigning Olympic champion and world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge has donated one of the shoes he wore during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games marathon to the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF).
Kipchoge’s winning left shoe will be one of the iconic items that will be on display at the IAAF Heritage World Athletics Championships Exhibition, a six-month display, which opens on April 18 in Doha.
Doha will be the hosting city for the World Championships from September 27 to October 6.
“I’m really pleased that my career will be permanently represented in the IAAF Heritage Collection,” said Kipchoge, who has also given a signed copy of the book detailing his world record run in Berlin.
“My running career still has a long way go, but I’m proud to donate one of my shoes from my Rio victory to be preserved for future generations of fans and publicly displayed.
“I hope it helps to motivate more people to take up the wonderful sport of running,” said Kipchoge, who became the second Kenyan to win an Olympic marathon title after Samuel Wanjiru at 2008 Beijing, clocking 2:08:44.
A statement from IAAF indicated that president Sebastian Coe together with Dahlan Al Hamad, Vice President and Director General of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 Local Organising Committee, will officially open the Heritage Exhibition at Doha’s city centre’s largest shopping mall on April 18.
The 400m2 exhibition will feature the world’s largest ever display of athletics artefacts and memorabilia, dating from 2nd Century B.C. to the present day.
In text, photographic and video displays, the exhibition succinctly tells the story of the sport’s 3000-year history.
Introductory displays cover athletics as it emerged from the ancient Olympic Games in 776 B.C.
The story is carried through to the first modern Olympic Games of 1896, the foundation of the IAAF in 1912 and to creation of the IAAF World Championships in 1983.
At the heart of the exhibition are 10 huge display panels summarising the history of the 16 editions of the IAAF World Athletics Championships.
Additional specialised displays include the histories of the six continental Areas, Qatari athletics and the development of ASICS spikes. There is also a preview of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 accompanied by a SEIKO countdown clock and QNB display.
Six video screens, including a small cinema room where longer championship highlights will be screened, will offer plenty of competition footage from world championships history.
Along with interactive features, there will be plenty of variety for all ages of visitors to enjoy and explore in the exhibition which will run until the October 7, the day after the end of the World Championships.
