Eliud Kipchoge may be in the twilight of his competitive career, but he’s not walking away from the marathon world just yet.
In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com following his sixth-place finish at the 2025 London Marathon, the 40-year-old Kenyan running legend suggested that this might be his final year racing at the elite level.
While he stopped short of officially announcing retirement, his comments made it clear: he’s shifting focus.
“I have nothing to prove,” Kipchoge said. “I am not competing with anybody at all, but myself. I’m running with the values of sport. I’m running with the values of humanity. That’s why I’m running.”
Kipchoge’s résumé is unmatched.
He’s a two-time Olympic champion (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020), an 11-time Abbott World Marathon Majors winner, and the former world record holder with a 2:01:09 at Berlin. In 2019, he became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, clocking 1:59:40 in an unofficial event in Vienna.
But his sixth-place finish in London marked a turning point.
He acknowledged it might have been his last time racing competitively in the city where he won four times before. The next stop on what increasingly feels like a farewell tour will be the 2025 Sydney Marathon in August, an event joining the World Marathon Majors for the first time this year.
Though his time of 2:05:25 was still among the fastest on the day, he couldn’t match the new generation.
Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe took the win, with Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo and fellow Kenyan Alexander Mutiso rounding out the podium. For Kiplimo, the experience of racing Kipchoge meant more than any result.
“To run against the person I’ve been watching since 2000, I am grateful to run with one of the GOATs,” Kiplimo told Olympics.com.
Kipchoge, for his part, said he’s proud to still be competitive but knows it’s almost time to pass the baton.
“Still my muscles enable me to really compete with the young ones, but I soon give them the baton, you know, do other things in sport.”
Those “other things” include a new kind of running career, one centered around advocacy and charity. Kipchoge said he plans to continue running major marathons around the world, including Chicago, New York, and Tokyo, but not to chase wins.
Instead, he wants to raise awareness for causes he cares about, particularly education and environmental conservation.
This direction isn’t surprising to those who’ve followed Kipchoge’s career closely. He’s long spoken about running as a way to promote human values.
And at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he was forced to drop out due to injury for the first time in his marathon career, Kipchoge showed exactly the kind of spirit he wants to carry forward. Despite pain, he walked the course until the final runner passed him. He gave away his bib, shoes, and socks to fans along the way.
“The other runners were telling me to push on, but I was telling them, ‘No, I have pain, I can’t,’” he said. “I could feel the love and respect from them.”
He called the London Marathon a “movement” and said the mix of charity runners and pros on the same course reflected the kind of sporting values he believes in. “I’m here to inspire the next generation,” he said.
Though he seemed to dismiss the idea of one last Olympic appearance in Los Angeles in 2028—“I think I’d have a lot of work to do”—he didn’t rule it out entirely. “I’ll be doing more work in Los Angeles,” he added with a smile. “My work is to lift this world and develop through sport.”
That work, it seems, is just beginning.
