Eliud Kipchoge will return to the Berlin Marathon, where he broke the world record in 2018 and 2022, to race on Sept. 24.
Kipchoge, 38, entered Berlin rather than race November’s New York City Marathon for the first time. Kipchoge traditionally races two marathons per year, one in the spring and one in the fall.
In his most recent marathon, Kipchoge placed sixth in Boston on April 17, just his third defeat in 18 career marathons. He said he developed a left leg problem late in the race.
Kipchoge had eschewed his usual London Marathon start to make his Boston debut as part of his goal to become the first runner to win all six annual World Marathon Majors.
Kipchoge previously won Berlin, Chicago, London and Tokyo, in addition to his two Olympic titles. The lone annual major he has yet to race is New York City.
Kipchoge won Berlin in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022, taking the world record down to 2 hours, 1 minute, 9 seconds last year.
Kipchoge will be nearly 40 come the Paris Olympics, more than one year older than the oldest Olympic champion in any running event, according to Olympedia.org. He hopes to become the first person to win three Olympic marathons.
Kipchoge may face a challenge to make Kenya’s three-man Olympic team.
Three Kenyans finished ahead of him in Boston, including Evans Chebet, who has now won three consecutive major marathons (Boston 2022, New York City 2022 and Boston 2023). Another Kenyan, Benson Kipruto, finished third after winning Boston in 2021 and Chicago in 2022.
Then at the London Marathon, Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum won in 2:01:25, the second-best time in history.
