The world’s fastest marathoner and
two-time Olympic marathon champion, Eliud Kipchoge, confirmed
on Twitter today that he will be running the Boston Marathon
on April 17, 2023. This will be his first time competing
in Boston, as he continues his quest to win all six Abbott
World Marathon Majors titles.
Kipchoge, 38, has held the world record since the 2018
Berlin Marathon, where he became the first runner to dip
under the 2:02 mark. This year at the Berlin Marathon,
Kipchoge lowered his world record by 30 seconds, running
2:01:09, 32 seconds faster than his Ethiopian rival Kenenisa
Bekele.
The greatest Kenyan marathoner
in history has won four of the six marathon majors—Berlin,
Tokyo, London and Chicago, and will look to make it five
in Boston. Kipchoge has mentioned in multiple interviews
that he has goals to win all six majors and become the
first athlete to win three straight golds in the Olympic
marathon.
Fans are unlikely to see a world record from Kipchoge
in Boston, due to its challenging hills, but Boston is
looked at as the world’s most prestigious marathon
due to the relatively difficult entry standards. Luckily
the 2:01 man had no issue being accepted into the field.
Kipchoge’s last race
in the U.S. was the 2014 Chicago Marathon, his second
of 10 consecutive marathon victories from 2014 through
2019. He will become the first reigning men’s marathon
world record holder to race the Boston Marathon in 40
years, according to Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.).
Kipchoge’s compatriot, Geoffrey Mutai, is the course
record holder, at 2:03:02, from the 2011 Boston Marathon;
it was a world’s best at the time, but since the
course is point-to-point and a net downhill, it did not
count with World Athletics.
Kipchoge is not the only
big name in Boston. The race said the historic lineup
includes 2022 women’s world marathon champion Gotytom
Gebreslase of Ethiopia, and the two previous Boston champions,
Evans Chebet (2022) and Benson Kipruto (2021).
|
219.jpg)
