As the Kenyan sports fraternity turns its focus to the ongoing Olympic Games in Paris, Eliud Kipchoge will be one of the most-watched superstars in France.

At 37, Kipchoge will be looking to win his third Olympic title, and this makes him one of the stars looking to make history.

However, Kipchoge is a concerned man, especially after failing to impress in the Tokyo Marathon on March 3. He surprisingly finished 10th in 2:06:50, more than four minutes behind the winner, Benson Kipruto, who clocked 2:02:16, the fastest time recorded this year.

Given how the legendary runner has performed since he launched his career over two decades ago, no one will write him off: he has run four of the 10 fastest times recorded.

Had Kelvin Kiptum, who died in a car crash five days after his Chicago Marathon time of 2:00:35, bettering Kipchoge’s mark of 2:01:09 at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, had been ratified by World Athletics, been alive, the spectacle against Kipchoge in Paris would have been huge.

As Kipchoge eyes history, his focus could be on his longstanding rival, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, who is 41- years -old.

The Ethiopian has won three Olympic and five world golds over 5000m and 10,000m before turning to the marathon and last competing at the Games in 2012. He finished fourth in the 10,000m in London.

He is in Paris after failing to participate in the 2016 and 2021 Games, and as he focuses on the fight against Kipchoge, his astonishing performance at the London Marathon in April, where he finished second in 2:04:15, 14 seconds behind Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso Munyao, should boost his morale.

The legendary runners meet in Paris, a city, coincidentally, where their rivalry started. In that instance, Bekele won the 5000m title against Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj, who went on to win 1500m and 5000m gold at the following year’s Olympics in Athens, Greece, with youngster Kipchoge taking bronze.

Kipchoge and Bekele last met at the London Marathon over six years ago, with the Kenyan emerging as the winner.

Ethiopia’s team

Apart from the outstanding duo, Ethiopia has a solid team that includes Deresa Geleta, who won this year’s Seville Marathon in a course record time of 2:03:27, setting his personal best and becoming the 20th fastest marathon runner in history.

Tamirat Tola is a contestant, and the 2022 world champion finished third at last year’s London Marathon and won the New York City Marathon in a course record of 2:04.58.

The Ethiopian unit has a joint dream: to win the Olympic medal, which was last won by a runner from the country, Gezahegne Abera, in Athens 20 years ago.

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands, ninth on this year’s world list after winning the Rotterdam Marathon in 2:04:45, and bronze medallist Bashir Abdi of Belgium are the other top athletes who deserve a mention.

Victor Kiplagat, a 2:05:09 performer at his best and has a season’s best of 2:07:44, is a top star to watch in Uganda’s team.

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