Marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge has admitted he has nothing left to prove after securing a ninth-place finish in the Sydney Marathon on Saturday, August 30.
Kipchoge, 40, was the star attraction during the marathon, although there were hints that his best years were behind him as he struggled for large parts of the 42-kilometre race.
The men's race was won by the fairly youthful Hailemaryam Kiros, who ran a course record time of 2:06:06.
Notably, it was the 28-year-old's first win at a major marathon, following his fourth-place finish in Tokyo and a fifth-place finish in Berlin.
Kipchoge ran the race in 2:08:31, which was impressive for a person in the twilight years of his career but not necessarily good enough on a professional track.
Speaking after his placing, Kipchoge expressed delight at the mere fact that he was able to complete the race, saying, "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."
According to Kipchoge, his main aim of attending and taking part in the Sydney Marathon was to bring people interested in athletics together.
"It’s a beautiful course. It’s a course for which there is no other in this world. It was not my day today. 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, with many tipping it to be his last. On April 27, Kipchoge ran the London Marathon, where he emerged sixth. Days later, he hinted that he would be stepping away from professional races.
“I think I’ll be going around the world to run in big city marathons for a cause: for education and for conservation,” Kipchoge revealed. “But above all, I’m still having one more year.”
Besides four London marathon wins, Kipchoge has also won the Berlin marathon five times, including one where he set a world record time of 2:01:09 at the time. That time remains the second-fastest official time ever in marathons.
More notably, Kipchoge etched his name in the history books by becoming the only human being to complete a marathon in under two hours after clocking 1:59:40 in Vienna in 2019.
In the women's race on Saturday, August 30, Ethiopia-born Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan edged out marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei to cross the finish line in a course record time of 2:18:22 to win her fourth marathon in six career races.
Kosgei and Hassan were neck-and-neck for a large part of the race, but Hassan ultimately broke out after the 35-kilometre mark to secure victory.
