After a sixth-place finish at the 2025 London Marathon, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge may be preparing to turn the page on his legendary professional marathon career. In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, the former marathon world record holder hinted that while he hasn’t set a firm date, his days of elite competition may soon end.
“I have nothing to prove,” Kipchoge said of his potential retirement. “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 said his 2:05:25 in London was an emotional race, knowing it was likely his last time competing there. “I think I’ll go around the world to run in big city marathons for a cause—for education and conservation,” said the two-time Olympic champion. “But above all, I’m still having one more year.”
The 40-year-old has one of the most storied marathon résumés in history: He is a two-time Olympic marathon gold medallist (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020), an 11-time Abbott World Marathon Majors winner (including four victories in London), and he formerly held the world record with his 2:01:09 run in Berlin. Kipchoge’s competitive career isn’t over yet; his next race is the 2025 TCS Sydney Marathon on Aug. 31, marking the event’s debut as an Abbott World Marathon Major.
Even if Kipchoge steps away from the elite division after 2025, he voiced his desire to continue running global marathons, such as Chicago, New York and Tokyo, to spread the joy of the sport that has given him so much.
A moment that still sticks out for many was his sportsmanship at the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon. After being forced to stop and walk due to a nagging hip issue, Kipchoge continued on the course until the final athlete, six-time Olympian Ser-Od Bat-Ochir of Mongolia, passed him.
Although Kipchoge says he loves challenging himself against the next generation of greats, like Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, 2024 Olympic champion Tamirat Tola and London Marathon champ Sebastian Sawe, he’s realized he will soon have to pass them the baton and move on.
