You know him as an Olympic champion, but 21 years ago, then a teenager, Kipchoge did not know what the future could bring.
Today, at 38 years, the athlete from Nandi county has risen in his career to become one of the greatest athletes in the world.
Kenyan Marathon runner, Eliud Kipchoge won the 2022 Berlin Olympics after clocking a new record of 2 hours 1 minute and 9 seconds.
Kipchoge is also the current record holder of the 2022 Olympics after beating his earlier on set record five years ago.
Coming from a family of four, Kipchoge was raised by his mother, a widowed teacher.
He undertook his primary education at Kapsisiywa and later joined Kaptel Secondary school.
If you want to be successful, you need to chose; but to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and what you want to go there
Kipchoge
His hopes of joining tertiary school were shattered due to his family’s inability to carter for his school fees.
Where it all began
Kipchoge met the Steeplechase Olympics Gold Winner; Patrick Sang in 2001 while he was 17 years old and the champion ended up becoming his trainer as he kicked off his career as an athlete.
The father of three once said that if one wants to succeed then they have to make a choice and choose it well, knowing who you are and standing for what you want and acknowledging where you want to go and why.
“If you want to be successful, you need to chose; but to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and what you want to go there,” he said.
Passion
He has proved that he understood his purpose and has showed determination to achieve his goals and desires as an athlete.
He won his first individual world championship in 2003 when he competed in the Junior race at the IAAF world class cross country championship in Paris, France.
At the end of the year 2006 he won the 10km race in San Silvestre Vallecana walking home with a gold medal.
He then took on to perform in long distance races in 2013 where he ran in the Hamburg Marathon and emerged victorious when he set a record of 2:05:30.
In the Berlin Marathon he came second to Wilson Kipsang who won with a time of 2:03:23.
In the 2015 Berlin Marathon Kipchoge faced a shoes malfunction 10 km into the race and he had to continue with the race and he emerged first although coming out with blisters.
In the years 2015, 2016,2018 and 2019 Kipchoge won in the London Marathon and hence was considered as one of the greatest athletes in the world.
Major setback
In 2020 Eliud kipchoge faced a major lose in his career as an athlete when he experienced an ear problem during the race.
But this is how sport is, we should accept defeat and focus on winning next time
Eliud Kipchoge
His right ear blocked and this saw him come in 8th as Shura Kitata took home the gold medal for the race.
He accepted defeat and vowed to focus on his next marathon.
“But this is how sport is, we should accept defeat and focus on winning next time,” he said.
He kept to his words and he made a comeback in the 2020 Tokyo games which was held in 2021 due to the Covid- 19 pandemic, where he finished first with a record of 2:08:38.
Kipchoge who has a net worth of $3million , this figure rose after he won in 2018 marathon race.
Eliud Kipchoge has received different awards including being named by United Nations as Kenya Person of the year in 2018 and also BBC sports personality world sport star of the year in 2019.
