Nothing more satisfying than inspiring people: Eliud Kipchoge

Olympic marathon champion in 2016 and 2020, Eliud Kipchoge is arguably the greatest marathoner in history. He recently broke the world record in Berlin, improving on it by an incredible 30 seconds, to own four out of five fastest marathon times in history. Having started in 2003 and still going strong, Kipchoge is a global superstar who has perhaps defied the laws of science so many times that he is now a law by himself. And yet he is not satisfied. He is already looking to plan for 2023 to further improve and add to his own legend. He isn’t the best speaker and it needed some push to get him to open up. He spoke to Boria Majumdar about his achievements, what the future is like for him and more. Excerpts:


What we saw in Berlin was spectacular. How do you feel about that?

I’m happy I was able to break the world record and improve on it by a good few seconds. It made me really happy and I’m pleased to be able to do so.

Breaking a world record and doing something superhuman can’t be summed up in one sentence! Tell us more about it.

I’m happy that the sport is being spoken about, that there is global attention, that people are recognising what it takes to win a marathon. More importantly the sport of distance running has completely changed in the last few years. We see so many more races, so many more competitions and so many more runners in every part of the world. That’s what you want to see and that’s what will further gain momentum if we do well. That’s why I said I was happy with the world record because it is being spoken about not just in Europe but in other parts of the world and will in turn encourage more and more people to run and compete.

Interesting you say that because while it will encourage others to take to the sport, what is it that keeps you going? You competing at the highest level for 20 years now. You have won every event that there is to win. You have broken every record that there is to break and yet you keep going. What’s your motivation?

When I see people talk about the sport and say that they want to take up the sport seeing me run, that’s my motivation. When you can inspire people there is nothing more satisfying than that. Even if it’s one person, I am happy and satisfied. There is nothing better than to change lives. If more and more people start to play the sport you will have a better and healthier world. And if I am the catalyst who has been instrumental in bringing about that change, there can never be a bigger motivation. Take the Berlin marathon for example. Once I was able to break the record, it created global news. Everyone who runs the marathon will take inspiration from it. People tend to feel they too can do it. You see young people wanting to take up the sport. That’s the motivation. That’s my legacy. That I have been able to inspire many to run and in doing so make change.


You have been to India as brand ambassador of the Delhi Half Marathon. What was your experience like?

I loved my time in Delhi. People were affable and warm. They knew about my achievements and were respectful. They were keen on taking to the sport and running. I could see there was tremendous interest among people. That’s what you want to see. You want to see your sport spread among the masses. You want them to embrace running, it has a positive impact on society. I could see that in Delhi. There was awareness. People were keen. They wanted to get better and that’s what pleased me a lot.


So, if you get an opportunity to come to India again in the near future will you take up that opportunity?

Absolutely I will. If I can come and make a difference to the sport in India I will absolutely come. If more and more people take to running seeing me there is no better feeling so absolutely I will come if I get an opportunity.


What next for Eliud Kipchoge? People don’t really stay at the top of their sport for as long as you have. We have just seen Roger Federer and Serena Williams retire after being at the top for two decades. What about you?

I need to sit with my team and formulate my plans for the next year. Set my goals and targets and prepare for them. That’s what I will be doing in the next few weeks and then set about trying to do my best to achieve them. I have always gone about things this way. Discussed with my team what all we need to do and then gone about doing my best to meet my goals.