Three-time Olympic Games gold medalist Kenenisa Bekele disclosed after the 2022 TSC London Marathon that he will try one more time to break Eliud Kipchoge’s marathon world record.
The 40-year-old registered a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s London Marathon behind the race winner Amos Kipruto, Belgium international Bashir Abdi and the Ethiopian duo of Kinde Atanaw and Leul Gebresilase.
Bekele started the race on a high, but ran out of gas in the final stages to cross the finishing line in 2:05.53.
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Speaking during a post-race interview, the middle distance races specialist revealed that he has not given up on smashing Kipchoge’s world record.
“Yes, I hope one day I will have it, you know. Of course, with good preparation, I don’t know when, but we will see one more time,” stated Bekele.
The former 5,000m and 10,000m world record holder further praised Kipchoge for the milestones that he continues to reach.
“Yeah, he is a really great marathon runner. So, no question about that, you know. I respect him, I am happy for him. He achieved over marathons better than all of us, so I want to congratulate him. He is motivating us,” ended Bekele.
In 2019, Kenenisa came within seconds of breaking the previous world record of 2:01.39 set by Eliud Kipchoge at the BMW Berlin Marathon back in 2018.
He ran the greatest marathon of his career in the streets of Berlin to cross the finishing line in 2:01.49 - two seconds slower than Kipchoge's previous world record.
Kipchoge improved his world record on September 25, 2022 when he destroyed Berlin’s course to reach the tape in 2:01.09.
The Bekele and Kipchoge rivalry is one of the longest ever witnessed in the history of athletics.
The East African duo have been squaring it out for over 19 years on cross country trails, tracks and roads across major cities across the globe.
Prior to transitioning to road races, Bekele used to comfortably defeat Kipchoge in most middle distance races, particularly the 10,000m and 5,000m races.
However, tables turned after the NN Running teammates switched to the marathon discipline. Since shifting his focus to road races, Bekele has struggled to match Kipchoge’s incredible feat.
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