The gladiatorial match-up the whole world has been waiting for – Eliud Kipchoge versus Kenenisa Bekele – is on and will take place on 26 April at the 2020 Virgin Money World Athletics Platinum Label London Marathon.
Kipchoge, the 2018 and 2019 World Athlete of the year, is widely considered the greatest marathon runner of all time. The Kenyan is the Olympic champion, a four-time London Marathon winner and the official world record holder for 26.2 miles at 2:01:39. In October, he became the first man to run a sub two-hour marathon at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, an exhibition event in Vienna.
But his world record was nearly broken by Kenenisa at last September’s BMW Berlin Marathon. The Ethiopian great, who is the current world record holder for both the 5000m and 10,000m and twice World Athlete of the Year, finished just two seconds outside Kipchoge’s world record.
Kipchoge, 35, confirmed in December that he’d be returning to London. kenenisa, 37, has also taken up the challenge to run in what will be one of the most eagerly anticipated races in marathon history.
Kipchoge and Kenenisa have previously met four times over the marathon distance, including twice in London (2016 and 2018), with Kipchoge coming out on top each time. But Kenenisa has the better head-to-head record over all distances and surfaces.
Kenenisa a three-time Olympic gold medalist and he has won 17 world titles on the track, cross-country and indoors. The two men spearhead the men’s field which also includes the second and third-placed finishers from last year, Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun.
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