Inside Eliud Kipchoge's ambitious plans

If it is making waves on the roads, marathon king Eliud Kipchoge has done it.

But what is the fastest marathoner alive up to after closing his Olympic chapter?

In an interview with Standard Sports, the two-time Olympic champion and former marathon world record holder, describes himself as the happiest sportsman even as he begins a new chapter in his athletics career.

Kipchoge maintains that he is not eyeing another participation in the Olympics as an active athlete, but the Athletes’ representative at the National Olympic of Kenya (NOC-K) has a mentorship duty.

He says he is shifting the gear towards guiding budding athletes.

“I’m old enough to give room for the young people and I will give my guidance for free. I’m actually transitioning to talking to the young athletes on integrity and doing the right things in sports,” Kipchoge said of his role in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

The gold medallist at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Marathon says he hopes to see many sports disciplines flying Kenyan colours in the next Olympic Games.

“My dream is to see as many young people as possible going to the Olympics in rugby, badminton, volleyball and in football. I wish to see more than ten disciplines competing in the Olympics,” the first man to run under two hours in a marathon at the Ineos 1:59 challenge in Vienna, Austria, says.

To him, athletics has been Kenya’s goose that lays the golden egg, at the Olympics.

Kipchoge, an 11-time winner at world marathon majors including London (four times), Berlin (five titles) and once in Tokyo and Chicago says he is looking forward to more Kenyans participating in the LA Olympics.

He said many sports fields are preparing for the Olympics and that they have adequate time to get ready.

“I’m optimistic that Kenya will do very well at the 2028 LA Olympic Games,” says the 41-year-old Kipchoge.

“Athletics has been our main discipline. It is also my dream to see Kenya bagging medals from 100m to the marathon, and to show that the country is an athletics powerhouse and further demonstrate that we can sprint.”

He says his mission is to see many athletes sitting down and happily enjoying, not only the successes of running, but life.

He is poised to run a global campaign that would redefine athletics.

“We are doing holistic sport; the kind of sport which makes you think and you know there are a lot fruits from the sport and that is what I am doing. I’m trying to tell all the athletes that let’s respect and honor the sport and shift to holistic sport where all of us can benefit,” he says.

Cape Town Marathon

On May 24, Kipchoge will be running his first 42km in the African continent, when he lines up in the 2026 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon.

Don’t be mistaken, the legend has not scaled down his training even with plans to transition to a global tour that will be much about inspiring the human race to run. He spends his time at the Global Sports Communication camp in Kaptagat with training mates including two-time New York City marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor.

“I’m preparing very well. It is the start of the Eliud Kipchoge global tour. I will be running across the world for the next two and half years, participating in a marathon in all the continents.

“This year, I’m starting on May 24 in Cape Town and I will be launching my tour in Africa,” Kipchoge says.

His joy at Cape Town will be to see the race’s elevation to a world marathon major.

“I think I’m the happiest man to run in Cape Town because the Cape Town marathon will be a world marathon major.

“It will be the first African world major. We have been lagging behind in Africa and I think I will be the happiest man to see an Abott world marathon major coming to Africa.”

Last year, the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon was officially confirmed as an Abbott World Marathon Majors candidate race – becoming the first marathon in Africa to be nominated.

The announcement marked the commencement of a multi-year evaluation process conducted by Abbott WMM.

Heroic welcome in China

Last month, Kipchoge was treated to a heroic reception on the streets of Shijiazhuang during a tour.

An enthusiastic crowd jammed the streets carrying placards bearing the athlete’s name and image, as they sought to catch a glimpse of him walking with officials on the street.

A viral video showed Kipchoge surrounded by security amidst a tightly controlled access.

Kipchoge said more than 50,000 people thronged the streets to welcome him to China.

He says he didn’t expect a huge crowd in a tour designed to inspire the Chinese through his No Human is Limited mantra.

“The outing to China was really great. I visited many places with a lot of people turning up to interact with me and that is my happiness,” says Kipchoge.

He further says: “I didn’t expect a crowd of over 50,000 people to show up. It is my happiness that people come out in large numbers because of the inspiration.

“People are waking up in the morning to run and push their limits not only running but their work places, and that is what the Chinese are doing. The Chinese are inspired by No Human is Limited in trying to keep growing their economy.”

After Cape Town, Kipchoge’s next tour will be Brazil’s Porto Alegre, South America before ending the year in Melbourne, South Africa.

He holds the second fastest time of 2:01:09 which he set at the 2022 at Berlin Marathon as a world record – a performance which was lowered to 2:00:35 by the late Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.