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The two-time Olympic champion believes the 23-year-old has shown enough in a short period of time that he is cable of lowering his world records
Two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge believes London Marathon champion Kelvin Kiptum is capable of breaking his world record as well as emulating him by becoming the second man to run a marathon under two hours.
Kiptum run the second-fastest marathon in history when he clocked 2:01:25 to become the first man to run a sub-2:02:00 in London. He also set a new course record in what was just his second marathon, coming less than six months after recording the fourth-fastest time on the world all-time list of 2:01:53 to win the Valencia Marathon in December 2022.
The 23-year-old broke from the field after the 30 km mark and completed the second half of the race in 59:45, the fastest half marathon ever in a full marathon race, with second-placed Geoffrey Kamworor arriving to the finish line nearly three minutes later.
Kiptum is recording numbers that took the Greatest Marathoner of All Time nearly a decade to achieve and Kipchoge feels it will not be long before he sets another world record, which could include running an official marathon under two hours.
“It’s great performance (Kiptum’s win in London), records are meant to be broken,” Kipchoge told the media in Nairobi on Thursday.
“I hope Kiptum will break records in future, he can run under two hours in future, that is why I have shown people the way. I have broken a world record twice, I have run under two hours and that is the sign that I need people to run.”
Kiptum missed Kipchoge’s world record by 16 seconds in London and there is a possibility that he will be among the elite field at the Berlin Marathon in September where a new world record could be set given the German capital has witnessed eight of the last 10 world records.
Kipchoge is also the first and only man to run a marathon under two hours following his feat in Vienna, Austria in October 2019, when he clocked a time of 1:59:40.
The marathon great has not confirmed which race he will go for next after his disappointing sixth-place finish in Boston in April despite speculation that he will make a stab at the New York Marathon in November.
“I’m concentrating on training, I have not confirmed any race but soon I will roll my programme so keep an eye on my social media channels,” he added.
“A lot of lessons have been learnt, I have learnt a lot of lessons on the need to work more harder, consistency. It shows that life is not smooth.”
Kipchoge was feted by Isuzu East Africa who unveiled a new Eliud Kipchoge 1:59 Limited Special D-Max Edition double cabin pick-up in his honour on Tuesday.
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