With two gold medals around his neck, Kipchoge goes to Paris in search of a historic Olympic trifecta

Eliud Kipchoge, Kenyan athlete twice Olympic champion in the marathon, was confirmed this Wednesday (1) and will be competing for his third gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, in August this year, after managing to qualify among the three best runners from Kenya.

There were 77 runners competing to reach the three places, which each country has, to participate in the sport in the biggest sporting event in the world.

Double Olympic champion

The 39-year-old Kenyan, who already held the Olympic (and world) record for the shortest time, 2:01:09, during his career won several titles and prominent positions in important competitions.

Running official marathons, that is, covering 42.195 meters, Kipchoge won two Gold medals at the Olympics he participated in, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, and was on the 5,000 meter podium in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

For the world championship, covering the 5,000 meters, Eliud won gold in Paris in 2003 and silver in Osaka in 2007.

However, during an “unofficial” competition for Olympic metrics and to be part of a world record, Kipchoge recorded an impressive mark, which if it were within Olympic rules and for the world record, would be number one: 1:59:40.

At 39 years old, an advanced age for high-performance athletes in most sports, the Kenyan is looking not just for another gold, but for another milestone in history: no athlete, man or woman, has ever won three gold medals. gold in the marathon.

“I always say that the Olympic dream is a special dream. The Olympic Games are what we all dreamed of as children, starting out in sport, and it is what motivates us most today. I am very proud to have been selected for the Kenyan national team for the 5th time in my life. After winning the gold medal in the marathon in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, my focus will now be Paris”, said the former world record holder.

Currently, Eliud Kipchoge shares the position of greatest medalist with Ethiopian Abebe Bikila (1960-1964) and German Waldemar Cierpinski (1976–1980).

_{Kipchoge and Daniel de Nascimento will meet again at the 2024 Paris marathon (Photo: reproduction)}

Presence of Brazilians

Unlike Kenyan athletes who are always competing with each other to get to the Olympic games, Brazilians generally have difficulty reaching the proposed Olympic index. To qualify for Paris 2024, at least 2:08:10 is required.

For this reason, only a single Brazilian marathon runner achieved the mark for the biggest sporting event that exists. With a reasonable time of 2h07min06, done in Germany, at the Hamburg Marathon, Daniel do Nascimento (25), Danielzinho, qualified for Paris.

However, curiously, Danielzinho and Kipchoge had a very impactful moment during the Tokyo Olympics marathon in 2020. Even during the beginning of the race, they both touched hands, giving a ‘punch’ and exchanging friendly words.

Daniel unfortunately did not finish the race, while the Kenyan became Olympic champion on the occasion, winning his second gold medal in the Olympic marathon events.

Featured photo: Eliud Kipchoge goes to Paris 2024 in search of his third gold in the 42km marathon (Reproduction: Instragram/ @kipchogeeliud)