Porto Alegre is the next stop for Kipchoge after racing in the Cape Town Marathon
Sports
By
Stephen Rutto
| May 26, 2026
Two-time Olympic champion and former world record holder Eliud Kipchoge’s sights are now firmly on running the Porto Alegre Marathon in Brazil on July 12.
Kipchoge officially opened a new chapter in his marathon career in South Africa on Sunday.
The 41-year-old legend kicked off the much-awaited Eliud Kipchoge World Tour that will see him run and finish one marathon on each of the seven continents in the coming months.
His latest move is a shift from the chase for titles to uniting the world through running.
And he opened the new chapter at the Cape Town Marathon on Sunday, completing the 42km race in 2:13:29 and finishing 16th in a race that served as a challenge described by Kipchoge as a celebration of running.
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“Cape Town, this was a special day. Today was a celebration of running on this beautiful course, supported by thousands of incredible fans singing and making music along the route, and by fellow runners sharing the same race. You all made our first stop on the tour, one we’ll never forget. I’m proud to begin our world tour in Africa and to run my first-ever marathon on home soil. It was the perfect start,” Kipchoge said on Sunday. It was his first ever marathon on African soil after competing in Europe, Asia and the USA in his prime.
The Cape Town race was special to the multiple winner of the World Marathon Majors, including Berlin, where he shattered the world record twice, the first in 2018 and in 2022, because his wife, Grace Sugut, also ran and completed a marathon for the first time in her life.
“Today was a celebration of running on this beautiful course, supported by thousands of incredible fans singing and making music along the route, and by fellow runners sharing the same race. You all made our first stop on the tour one to never forget. Today reminded me why I am so proud to call Africa home. My first ever marathon on home soil - a perfect start,” Kipchoge said.
He further said: “I ran my first marathon 13 years ago (in Hamburg). It has brought me to where I am today, but I could not do this without the support of many, including my family. My heart is filled with pride, for my wife Grace completing her first marathon in Cape Town.” Part of his mission in Cape Town was to see athletes sitting down and happily enjoying, not only the successes of running, but life, he disclosed to Standard Sport in April.
His global campaign is anchored on redefining athletics as not only a sport but an anchor of social development, he said earlier in the year.
“We are doing holistic sport; the kind of sport which makes you think, and you know there are a lot of fruits from the sport, and that is what I am doing. I’m trying to tell all the athletes that let’s respect and honour the sport and shift to holistic sport where all of us can benefit,” he says.
He had indicated before racing in Cape Town that the world tour would take him to Melbourne, Australia, after Porto Alegre.
The initiative marks a new chapter in the two-time Olympic champion’s storied career, combining elite racing with a mission to “unite the world through running.” Each stop on the tour will also raise funds for the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation, which supports education and environmental projects around the globe.