Marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge has admitted he has nothing left to prove after finishing ninth at the Sydney Marathon on Saturday, August 30.
Kipchoge, 40, was the main attraction at the race but showed signs that his dominant years are behind him as he struggled in sections of the 42-kilometre course. He crossed the finish line in 2:08:31, a respectable time but below his usual standards at the top level.
The men’s race was won by 28-year-old Hailemaryam Kiros, who set a course record of 2:06:06. It was Kiros’s first major marathon win, after finishing fourth in Tokyo and fifth in Berlin earlier this year.
Speaking after the race, Kipchoge said his goal was not about winning but about inspiring unity through running.
“I’m happy to go across the finish line. I have nothing to prove. My mission is to bring all the people together. Let us surpass 55,000, actually, next year to run here,” Kipchoge said.
“It’s a beautiful course. It was not my day today, but above all, I have crossed the finish line to empower the people of Australia, to make Australia a running nation.”
This was Kipchoge’s 23rd marathon, and many believe it could be his last competitive one. Earlier in April, he placed sixth in the London Marathon and later hinted at shifting focus to running for causes such as education and conservation.
Kipchoge has won the London Marathon four times and the Berlin Marathon five times, including the 2022 edition where he set a world record of 2:01:09 — the second-fastest official marathon time ever. In 2019, he also made history by becoming the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, clocking 1:59:40 in Vienna.
In the women’s race in Sydney, Ethiopia-born Dutch runner Sifan Hassan beat marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei to win in a course record of 2:18:22. Hassan broke away after the 35-kilometre mark to claim her fourth win in six career marathons.
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