Kipchoge experiences lowest ranking in marathon career

Eliud Kipchoge had an unsuccessful performance at the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, finishing in 2 hours 6 minutes 50 seconds and placing 10th overall. He was far behind the top three finishers: Benson Kipruto (2 hours 2 minutes 16 seconds), runner-up Timothy Kiplagat (2 hours 2 minutes 55 seconds), and third-placed Vincent Ngetich (2 hours 4 minutes 18 seconds).

This is the lowest finish for the Kenyan long-distance runner in his marathon career. Prior to the Tokyo marathon, Kipchoge had only failed to win three times in the marathons he participated in. He finished second in the 2013 Berlin Marathon with a time of 2 hours 4 minutes 5 seconds, eighth in the 2020 London Marathon with 2 hours 6 minutes 49 seconds, and sixth in the 2023 Boston Marathon with 2 hours 9 minutes 23 seconds.

At the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, Kipchoge was in the leading group during the first 30km but then ran out of steam and fell out of the top 10 after the 35km mark. He ultimately finished in 10th place.

This was Kipchoge’s second time participating in the Tokyo Marathon. In the previous championship in 2022, he won and set a record of 2 hours 2 minutes 40 seconds. However, this record was recently broken by Benson Kipruto with a time of 2 hours 2 minutes 16 seconds.

Last year, Kipchoge skipped the Tokyo Marathon to compete in the Boston Marathon but was disappointed with a 6th place finish.

This year, he chose to race in Tokyo to prepare for the 2024 Olympics but once again faced defeat. The Kenyan athlete aspired to become the first person to win 3 gold medals in the marathon at the Olympics. He had previously won gold at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.