Kipchoge to Farah: See you in London
What you need to know:
- Kipchoge, the 2016 Rio Olympic Marathon champion who is also reigning London Maratho champion, said he is looking forward to competing against Farah.
- It’s in 2016 London Marathon that Kipchoge retained the title in a new course record time of 2:03:05, beating compatriot Stanley Biwott in 2:03:51 and Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele in 2:06:36
- Kipchoge further hinted at defending his Olympic Marathon title next year in Tokyo after a warm-up in Tokyo Marathon early next year.
World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya is relishing a chance to take on home athlete Mo Farah in London Marathon on April 28.
Kipchoge, the 2016 Rio Olympic Marathon champion who is also reigning London Marathon champion, said he is looking forward to competing against Farah, who is the reigning Chicago Marathon champion, again as he targets his fourth London Marathon title in the British capital city.
“He (Farah) is a great champion and proved in Chicago that he can win a major marathon, so I’m relishing a chance to take on him and many other great athletes that I’m sure will again be on the Start Line in London,” said Kipchoge.
Kipchoge, who won the London Marathon in 2015 (2hours, 04min, 42sec), 2016 (2:03:05) and 2018 (2:04:17) noted that he watched the full race during last year’s Chicago Marathon and was impressed by Farah.
“It was not really fast, but it was a tactical race. It was a psychological race,” Kipchoge said yesterday as he declared his readiness to defend his London Marathon title.
It’s in 2016 London Marathon that Kipchoge retained the title in a new course record time of 2:03:05, beating compatriot Stanley Biwott in 2:03:51 and Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele in 2:06:36. He missed the world record by eight seconds.
Last year, Kipchoge recaptured the title from compatriot Daniel Wanjiru in 2:04:17 after beating the challenge from Ethiopian Tola Shura Kitata, who came in second in 2:04:49 as Farah came third in United Kingdom’s record time of 2:06:21.
Kipchoge further hinted at defending his Olympic Marathon title next year in Tokyo after a warm-up in Tokyo Marathon early next year.
“It would make sense to run Tokyo next year to have nice break between Tokyo and the Olympics in August 2020,” said Kipchoge, who is fresh from winning the Safaricom Sports Personality of the Year Award. Kipchoge started his season strongly last year with victory at London Marathon, which was the 15th fastest time over the distance.
However, the moment Kipchoge was patiently and persistently been thirsting for came at 2018 Berlin Marathon when he broke the World Record by one minute and 18 seconds, setting news time of 2:01:39 in September 16 the Germany Capital City.
On his way to the world record and his third Berlin Marathon title, Kipchoge also broke the 30km World Record setting new times of 1:26:45.
