Eliud Kipchoge
Eliud Kipchoge is the fastest marathon runner in the world, over many years he has set countless records. His career started in his younger years rather out of an emergency situation and he had to fight his way from the bottom to the top of the marathon runners. Three times Kipchoge won an Olympic medal. He went down in history as the first person to run a marathon under a time of two hours and at only 18 years of age the Kenyan became world champion in the 5000 meter run. Despite his many successes, Eliud Kipchoge has remained an extremely modest person and continues to impress with his down-to-earth lifestyle:
Eliud Kipchoge is the greatest in his discipline, breaking one world record after another. But that was not always the case. The marathon runner grew up in poor circumstances and had to work hard to make his way to the top of the world of runners. Even the disease malaria could not dissuade him from his plans. Precisely because this disease plays a major role in Eliud Kipchoge's life, he has joined forces with the organization„Zero Malaria" for the fight against and eradication of malaria. For us, a true role model from whom one can learn above all willpower and perseverance.
Early in his career, Kipchoge didn't even come close to competing at the district level. He began training on his own motivation shortly after leaving school and initially finished second overall in 2001 when he took part in a jackpot series of races. He was then spotted by manager Jos Hermens and by that year he had crossed the finish line as the winner of the junior race at Kenya's Trials and was thus selected for the 2002 World Cross Championships in Dublin. But then his career was put on hold: Kipchoge fell ill shortly before the World Championships and again afterwards, among other things with malaria. Once he had fully recovered, however, there was no stopping him and his career took off. Today Kipchoge is working together with the organisation „Zero Malaria“Kipchoge now works with the organization Zero Malaria to fight the disease that threatened his career.
Eliud Kipchoge claimed the title as the greatest marathon runner of all time in Berlin in September 2018 with a time of 2:01:39. Since then, he has been the unbeaten record holder. Kipchoge even managed to break the two-hour mark at the Vienna marathon in 2019, clocking a record time of 1:59.40: Making him the first person to achieve a sub-2-hour time in a marathon. In addition, he took the gold medal in the marathon at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, among other events, and won an Olympic medal two other times. Overall, Kipchoge holds several records that remain unbeaten to this day.
Originally, Eliud Kipchoge had not planned to pursue a career as a runner, instead he wanted to study human resources management. However, this dream remained unfulfilled because his family lacked the necessary money to enable him to study. So Kipchoge looked for a way to earn money and thus started running. Already as a child he was used to marching many kilometres to school and in the highlands of Kenya a runner has the chance to earn a regular income - and so Kipchoge started running at the age of 16. His hard training paid off: Kipochge won the junior world title as well as several victories in cross country or even on the track. Thus he gradually developed into today's Olympic champion and world record holder in marathon running.
| Year | Distance | Time |
| 2004 | 1500m | 3:33.20 |
| 2004 | 5000m | 12:46.53 |
| 2007 | 10000m | 26:49.02 |
| 2011 | 3000m | 7:27.66 |
| 2012 | Half Marathon | 59:25 |
| 2016 | Marathon | 2:03:05 |
| 2018 | Marathon | 2:01:39 |
| 2019 | Marathon | 1:59.40 |
Kipchoge has remained incredibly modest despite his countless successes, which are associated with high prize money. He still lives in Eldoret, Kenya, with his family and trains and trains from Monday to Saturday in a nearby training camp in in Kaptagat. Here, nothing resembles luxury accommodation and the runners spend a simple, uncomplicated and down-to-earth life. They cook their own food, keep their rooms clean and fetch drinking water from a nearby well - including millionaire Kipchoge. On Sundays, the world record holder prefers to go to church with his wife and three children. Religion plays a very important role in his life, so that he doesn't let it hold him back from his goals. And his fortune? The marathon runner has invested it down-to-earth in a farm and other real estate.
| Sport: | Long distance runner |
| Nationality: | Kenya |
| Birthday: | November 05. 1984 |
| Born in: | Kapsisiywa, Kapsabet |
| Place of residence: | Eldoret |
| Height: | 167 cm |
| Estimated net worth: | 2.5 million euros |
| Coach: | Patrick Sang |
| National squad: | Since 2002 |
| Followers on Instagram: | 1.4 million |
| Wife: | Grace Sugutt |
