Eliud Kipchoge: ‘Mo Farah did not fail in the marathon. I respect him’

“I still have the fire,” whispers the greatest distance athlete in history. “What’s changed is the mentality that anything can happen if you believe in yourself. But in all other things I am still the Eliud of before. The Eliud of 11 October, still the same.”

Not so long ago the thought of running a marathon in less than two hours lurked somewhere between the fantastical and the theoretical: the sporting equivalent of landing a human on Mars. However, on a breathless autumnal morning in Vienna, Eliud Kipchoge not only broke that barrier, he shattered it.

Millions watched and he was lauded by figures such as Barack Obama. But Kipchoge says that despite the growing fame from running 26.2 miles in 1hr 59min 40.2sec he still takes his turn to clean the toilets at his training camp.

“Nothing has changed,” he says again, smiling.

Despite his success and growing fame Kipchoge remains a puritan in Babylon. He did not celebrate his extraordinary achievement with champagne – he doesn’t drink – or fast food. He eats chocolate about two or three times a year and there was no large celebration when he arrived back in Kenya either.

“It was a crazy time,” he says. “But there was no need for a big procession because the president honoured me with the golden heart medal – the highest recognition by the head of state.”

His next goal, he says, is to inspire more of the world to do the Daily Mile, an initiative that is increasingly popular in UK schools, and to make sport part of people’s lives.

“I don’t want to go into politics,” he says. “But I am glad that running under two hours unified the whole world and brought Kenya to a standstill.”

It is a measure of how much the Kenyan’s sub-two run resonated globally that on Sunday evening he will be presented with the BBC’s overseas personality of the year award in Aberdeen after winning a public vote against a shortlist that is a who’s who of international sport.

There is Simone Biles, who won five world medals in 2019 to become the most decorated gymnast in history; Siya Kolisi, who captained South Africa to the Rugby World Cup; Megan Rapinoe, the star of the USA team that won the Women’s World Cup; Steve Smith, key to Australia’s retention of the Ashes; and Tiger Woods, who capped a comeback for the ages by winning the Masters.

“Winning makes me a happy man,” Kipchoge says modestly.

His next target will be the London Marathon in April, where he will go for a fifth title, before a likely attempt at retaining his Olympic crown.

Not only does he believe he can break his own course record in London but his official world record of 2:01:38 may also be in his sights. “I am training still at 10 or 20%, so it is hard to say I will do this or this,” he says. “But hopefully maybe by mid-March I will know what I will be doing in London.”

When Kipchoge ran in Vienna he wore Nike alphaFLYs, stacked with a foam platform so high they would not have looked out of place in the King’s Road in the 1970s. However, Kipchoge denies he and other Nike athletes have too great an advantage from wearing shoes that have been shown in scientific experiments to be faster than rival brands. “I thank Nike for the good shoes. They are doing a great job. But above all it is the person themselves.

“We have 10 teams in Formula One, with great engines and tyres from Pirelli, but only Lewis Hamilton is winning. Why? Because he is focused and he is a very good professional driver. I met him in Abu Dhabi and I realised that to win it is not the tyres, it is the person.”

But surely the Vaporfly and alphaFLY shoes provide an advantage? “You know, what makes a human being is his conscience,” Kipchoge says. “If you don’t believe you can run fast, even in the best shoes you can’t do it.”

Kipchoge is more hesitant when it comes to discussing the recent problems at his sponsor Nike, including Alberto Salazar’s four‑year ban for doping offences and the criticisms that the company restricted payments for female athletes who become pregnant. “That is their business. I cannot comment on that,” he says.

He is similarly uneasy when asked whether Mo Farah’s achievements are tainted by his seven-year coaching association with Salazar, batting the question back. “What do you think?”

When pressed, Kipchoge adds: “I don’t want to comment on the Oregon Project. I am a Kenyan. I am training in Kenya. I think you will know more from those training in America.”

But he has warm words for Farah, who he believes can win a gold medal after moving back to the track to defend his 10,000m Olympic title in Tokyo. “Mo Farah did not fail in the marathon,” he says. “I respect him as a sportsman and as a human being and I respect the conscience of his team.

“So if the decision is to go back to track, then that is the best. But he will come back in a big way after the 10,000m at the Olympics. He can run very well in the marathon. His PB is 2:05 – I think that is not enough. He can run 2:03.”

For now, though, Kipchoge is concentrating on getting down to serious training again. It means that shortly before dawn on Christmas Day, while the rest of the world are opening their eyes and presents, he will embark on an “easy” run of 20km – part of a scheduled 220km of training that week.

“I have been doing all sorts of things since Vienna,” he says. “I have been hanging out with the kids, I have been going around to mentor people. I started to train in the gym three times a week and three times running, the training is picking up now.”

Does he ever think about sitting on the sofa and jacking it all in? A shake of the head. “Even if I am tired and have just woken up I just go for a run and after 10 minutes the energy just comes.”

With that he bursts into a smile again.

source: theguardian.com