Kipchoge and Jepchirchir make Kenya’s final marathon squad for Olympic Games

Dennis Mabuka

Eliud Kipchoge with the gold medal at the Tokyo OlympicsAFP

It is now official, Olympic gold medallists Eliud Kipchoge (39) and Peres Jepchirchir (30) will lead the hunt for medals for Kenya’s men's and women’s marathon teams during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in July/August.

On Wednesday, May 1st, Athletic Kenya (AK) in collaboration with the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) named the final squad for the men’s and women’s marathon teams, whittling it down from the previous squad of six each which was shortlisted on April 4th, 2024.

Kipchoge will spearhead a formidable men’s team alongside Tokyo marathon champion Benson Kipruto (33), London marathon champion Alexander Munyao (27), with Tokyo marathon silver medallist Timothy Kiplagat (30), who hit the limelight on December 17th, 2022, when he raced at the Abu Dhabi Marathon, being named as a reserve.

In the women’s team, Jepchirchir was named alongside two-time Boston Marathon champion Hellen Obiri (34), and two-time London and Chicago Marathon champion Brigid Kosgei (30). 2022 New York Marathon champion Sharon Lokedi (30) was named as a reserve.

2022 Madrid Half marathon champion Vincent Ngetich was the only exclusion from the men’s squad while in the women’s team, those left out include two-time Chicago marathon winner Ruth Chepng’etich and 2023 Tokyo marathon champion Rosemary Wanjiru.

Kipchoge eyeing third consecutive gold

Kipchoge, regarded as one of the greatest marathoners of all time, will be keen to write his name in history books as the first athlete to win three consecutive Olympic marathon titles.

“When we step onto the streets of Paris, it won’t just be as individuals, but as a formidable team united by our shared pursuit of greatness, this is not world major marathons, it is Olympic Games, so we are going as one team, not as individuals,” Kipchoge told Flashscore News after being named in the squad.

“Let me say thank you very much to Athletics Kenya and NOCK for putting us in the final squad for Team Kenya and I think for the next three months, we are going to train in a good way, trying to go and represent our country in a good way, so that we can come up with a good result.”

On how prepared Kipchoge, who is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon was for the Olympics, he said: “I believe in my preparations and planning that I will be preparing well and planning well, and if all goes well I will win, but if anything happens then this is sport, we accept the outcome, that is the only way to enjoy the sport but I trust I will make it.”

On whether he will compete in any other race before the Olympics, Kipchoge stated: “My plans is only to prepare (for the Olympics), I don’t have any other plans to run (elsewhere), I just want to put my heart, my mind, all my thoughts on the Olympics, it a tough field because about 106 countries sending athletes to participate, and everybody is a champion, I don’t underrate them, I give everybody maximum respect.”

Teaming up with Kipchoge in Paris will be Munyao, who won the London Marathon on April 21st after clocking 2:04:01 to beat Ethiopia’s 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele while the women’s race was won by Jepchirchir after clocking a time of 2:16:15 to break the world record in the process.

Former Kenyan national record holder for the mile and the 5000m, and two-time Olympic 5,000m silver medallist from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she also placed fourth over the 10,000m, Obiri kept her place in the women’s team and will be debuting at the Olympics.