- Eliud Kipchoge has broken the ice after failing to win Monday’s Boston Marathon
- Fellow Kenyan Evans Chebet successfully defended his victory
- Kipchoge says he lives to fight another day
Celebrated world marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge has broken the ice after failing to win Monday’s Boston Marathon won by fellow Kenyan Evans Chebet.
Kipchoge who had the world on him finished a distant sixth. The marathon legend intended to make history by winning all six of the world majors, but he was unable to maintain the pace of a difficult race in Boston posting 2:09:23 finishing time.
Chebet, the defending champion, completed the marathon in 2:05:54. Benson Kipruto, the 2021 champion, came in third in 2:06:06 and was overtaken by Tanzanian Gabriel Geay, who finished in 2:06:04 following a sprint finish in the final 500 metres of the race.
Kenyans and the world at large had, for the better part of Monday, had Kipchoge as the main focus of Boston Marathon.
Eliud Kipchoge. Photo/Capital News
However, he did not make it to the win, leaving many of his disappointed that he had a rocky start to his first major event for the year.
Aware of this, Kipchoge told the world that victory is never guaranteed in marathons but he is glad that he pushed himself to the end.
“I live for the moments where I get to challenge the limits. It’s never guaranteed, it’s never easy. Today was a tough day for me. I pushed myself as hard as I could but sometimes, we must accept that today wasn’t the day to push the barrier to a greater height,” he wrote on Facebook.
“I want to congratulate my competitors and thank everyone in Boston and from home for the incredible support I am so humbled to receive. In sports you win and you lose and there is always tomorrow to set a new challenge. Excited for what’s ahead,” he added.
He looked forward to the race with a lot of zeal to celebrate with the families of those who lost loved ones in the two bomb bombings that occurred in 2013 just after the race had begun.
This terror attack left three people dead and 260 others were injured.
Eliud Kipchoge 2022 Berlin Marathon. Photo by Fox Sports
In a recent interview, he said that he is not about making new world records but breaking barriers through marathon to inspire generations.
Kipchoge only wants the world to remember him for the barriers he broke in his athletic career and not the gold medals he won. He says that his career is all about breaking barriers because he wants his legacy pegged on this and nothing else.
It’s through the broken barriers that he makes a positive impact in his community and in people’s lives and for generations to come.
Kipchoge, who is now turning 40 broke his first barrier in life at the INEOS 1:59 challenge in Vienna, Austria in 2019. He became the first man in history to clock 1:59:40 in a marathon.
Although he has achieved a lot of other successes in his marathon career, Kipchoge says running a marathon in under two hours broke a barrier of self-imposed human limitation.
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