Marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge has hinted that the London Marathon could be his last competitive race.

Kipchoge returned to London and managed a sixth-place finish this year, and in an interview, he said this could be his last race.

The Kenyan legend has won multiple titles, probably all that are there to be won, including 11 World Marathon Major wins, a record-breaking four of them won in London.

He has five Berlin Marathon titles, one of which was his best-ever official time of 2:01:09, then a world record, and still the second quickest marathon ever.

He successfully defended his Olympic men’s crown from Rio 2016 with victory at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 and is the only person to break the two-hour mark in the 42.195 kilometer (26.2-mile) distance, running 1:59:40 on a special course in Vienna in 2019 as part of a demonstration event.

So when is he retiring?

“It might be the last time I come here to run competitively,” Kipchoge told Olympics.com

“I think I’ll be going around the world to run in big city marathons for a cause, for education, and for conservation, but above all, I’m still having one more year.”

“I have nothing to prove. I am not competing with anybody at all. I’m competing with myself. I’m competing with my message, my values… I’m running with the values of sport. I’m running with the values of humanity. That’s why I’m running. No competition, nothing to prove but humanity.”

London is special

The 40-year-old described the London Marathon in glowing terms and likened it to a movement.

“I always say the London Marathon is a movement, and it has been proved today that it’s a real, real movement with the support of the fans, the support of the crowd, all around the streets of London. It was awesome,” he said.

“These are the streets where three times [the] Olympics has been done, and the London Marathon speaks the language of Olympic spirit, and that’s why I’m here. I’m here to inspire the next generation.”