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Patrick Sang, the 1992 Olympic and two-time world steeplechase silver medallist, takes a lot of pride in coaching world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge.

His work with the Olympic champion is no guesswork but rather a detailed documentary of an athlete being pushed by internal passion to do better.

That the man, who made history as the first athlete to run a marathon in under two hours when he clocked 1:59.40 at the ‘Ineos 1:59 Challenge’ in Vienna, Austria last month, calls him a role model, is no mean feat.

“That the man each and every athlete wants to emulate, a role model to children and adults sees and calls you a role model. To me, that is the most humbling thing,” says Sang.

“Seeing elite athletes struggling to keep up with the pace of Eliud is not uncommon. He is the kind of athlete that you use to pass crucial information to others in training. He is a sharp athlete, one you need to talk to at the start of the race,” Sang adds of Kipchoge, who run a world record time of 2:01:39 in Berlin last year.

“I am not young, so I can only guide athletes while instilling the biggest core in sports discipline, without which you are not going to succeed. I am not able to run with them, but it is important the programme is adhered to,” says the 55-year-old, who has worked with Kipchoge since 2001. When races approach, Sang says the training schedule has to change to factor in what to expect on competition day.

“In most cases, we usually design a programme where my athletes know the pace for every kilometre. Usually, 2:50 is the desired time per kilometre. While for Eliud that is achievable, I have to make sure there are fast alternating pacers to keep up with him. I use him to pass information to others,” shares Sang.

He goes on: “We mostly have five sets of 2,000m. Here, we start by walking like 100m, jogging for similar distance. Then we have a serious run of 10km where the paces have to be in the range of 5:50 per two kilometres based on the pace of the athletes where Eliud fits perfectly,” he adds.

While defending his Olympics title is Kipchoge’s focus in 2020, Sang does not rule out an attempt to run a marathon under two hours on a ratified course in future.