FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON ON 25 SEPTEMBER:
Eliud Kipchoge returns to Berlin
Eliud Kipchoge will return to the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on 25th September,
four years after his spectacular world record there. The race organisers
announced his participation today, confirming the presence of the greatest
marathon runner of all time in their event. The Kenyan superstar won
Germany's running showcase and broke the world record with 2:01:39 in 2018
which remains the world's fastest legal marathon time. Kipchoge returns not
only as the fastest man ever in the marathon but as the double Olympic
champion in the event, having retained the title in Japan last year
following his triumph in Rio in 2016.
SCC EVENTS, the organisers for the 48th edition of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON,
expect around 45,000 participants from some 150 countries. With these
numbers the race will return to the size it used to have before the
pandemic. Eliud Kipchoge apart, another top contender will be the defending
champion Guye Adola. The Ethiopian won last year's race in 2:05:45.
The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and a
World Athletics Platinum Label Road Race.
"We are delighted that Eliud Kipchoge will be running the BMW
BERLIN-MARATHON for the fifth time. In Guye Adola we also have an athlete
who could be capable of challenging him. We hope it will be a high quality,
exciting race, a showpiece for the whole sport of running," said race
director Mark Milde. Certainly Berlin can lay claim to being Eliud
Kipchoge's favourite destination for the marathon since he will have
competed there more than anywhere else. After finishing second in 2013 he
won in 2015, 2017 and 2018. A fourth victory would take Kipchoge level with
the Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie, who currently holds the record
outright for most wins in Berlin.
At the age of 37, Eliud Kipchoge has won all but two of the 18 marathons he
has contested. Among his successes have been two in which he delivered
"records" which did not conform to the record book: in Milan in 2017 and
Vienna two years later, Kipchoge went hunting for the first sub-two hour
marathon, achieving his goal in Vienna's Prater Park in 2019 with his time
of 1:59:40.2. It was a performance characterised by headlines around the
world as "Kipchoge's Moon Landing".
The World athlete of the Year for 2018 and 2019 did not want to set any
definite goals with almost three months to go before the race in Berlin.
But Eliud Kipchoge was happy to make one point clear, at least: "Berlin is
the fastest course. It's where a human being can showcase their potential
to push the limits." The form of the four-time Abbott World Marathon Majors
winner (2016 to 2019), has been as strong as ever in recent times. The
Kenyan won the Tokyo Marathon in 2:02:40 in March, breaking the course
record with the fourth fastest marathon in history.
Eliud Kipchoge will have to be ready to run fast for victory on September
25 since his rivals will be high quality once again. Joining him on the
start line, Guye Adola is not only the defending champion but the athlete
who nearly defeated him in 2017. The Ethiopian led in the closing stages in
Berlin to run what remains his personal best of 2:03:46, finishing
runner-up, 14 seconds behind Kipchoge. "I'm delighted to be again running
the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON and in defence of my title. I always have good
feelings about the race in Berlin because it was where I made my debut at
the distance and it's still my personal best. My aim is to run under 2:03,"
said Guye Adola.
More information is available online at: www.berlin-marathon.com
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