Eliud Kipchoge EGH (born 5 November 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres.

[8] The run did not count as a new marathon record, as standard competition rules for pacing and fluids were not followed, and it was not an open event.

[9][10][11] Kipchoge was appointed Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 20 October 2019 in recognition of his sub-two-hour marathon.

At the World Cross Country Championships, held in Dublin, Kipchoge finished fifth in the individual race and was part of the Kenyan junior team that won gold.

[24] In 2004, Kipchoge won a bronze medal at the 5000 m final at the 2004 Athens Olympics, behind El Guerrouj and Kenenisa Bekele.

He made his debut on the 2010 IAAF Diamond League by winning the 5000 m Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix in a meet record time.

[30] Kipchoge made a world best attempt, and although he won the race, weather affected his chances, and he finished in 13:11, the fourth-fastest ever for the course up to that point in time.

[34] At the start of 2011, he won the short race at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country, ahead of Asbel Kiprop.

[37] Kipchoge was chosen to represent Kenya at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and reached the 5000 m final for the fifth consecutive time, although he only managed seventh place on this occasion.

Kipchoge returned to the Edinburgh Cross Country in 2012, but this time he finished third behind Asbel Kiprop and Britain's Jonathan Hay.

[39] He attempted to gain a place on the 10,000 m Olympic team at the Prefontaine Classic, but fell back in the late stages of the Kenyan trial race, finishing seventh.

[42] The run was won by a new course record time of 59:05 (previously 59:36 by ilahun Regassa set in 2008) by Ezekiel Chebii (former pb 59:22), trailed by Bernard Koech 59:10, and Kipchoge earned a third place with 59:25.

The runner up was Feyisa Lilesa (Ethiopia) in 2:09:54 and the bronze medal went to Galen Rupp (USA), doing his second marathon, crossing the finish line in 2:10:05.

[57][58] The winning gap between Kipchoge and Lilesa by 70 seconds was the largest victory margin since the 1972 Olympic marathon.

[62][58] On 20 November 2016, Kipchoge ran in the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, winning the race, clocking a time of 59:44.

[64] During the 2-hour attempt, the runners were paced by a lead car and 30 supporting pacers joining in stages (both considered illegal under IAAF rules).

[69] Former marathon world record holder Wilson Kipsang and 2016 winner Kenenisa Bekele failed to finish.

[70][71] Kipchoge won the London Marathon against a field that included Mo Farah, Kenenisa Bekele, and defending champion Daniel Wanjiru.

[5] The British runner Mo Farah, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and a pre-race favourite, finished 5th.

On 12 October 2019 in Vienna's Prater park, he ran 4.4 laps of the Hauptallee in 1:59:40, becoming the first person in recorded history to break the two-hour barrier over a marathon distance.

Specifically, it was not an open event; Kipchoge was handed fluids by his support team throughout; the run featured a pace car and included rotating teams of other runners pacing Kipchoge in a formation designed to reduce wind resistance and maximise efficiency.

[7] In preparation for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, he won the NN Mission Marathon, which was held at Enschede Airport Twente in the Netherlands on 18 April 2021 in a time of 2:04:30.

[96] Kipchoge successfully defended his title from the Rio Olympics by winning the gold medal in the men's marathon at the Tokyo Games in a time of 2:08:38, becoming only the third person to successfully defend their gold medal in the men's marathon, after Abebe Bikila in 1960 and 1964, and Waldemar Cierpinski in 1976 and 1980.

This was followed up by an announcement on 18 February that he would be participating in the 2021 Tokyo Marathon (which took place on 6 March 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2021) and that the majority of his recent training has been dedicated towards this goal.

[101] On 25 September, Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon decisively in a time of 2:01:09, beating by 30 seconds his own previous world record, which he set on the same course in 2018.

He finished 4:49 min ahead of second-placed compatriot Mark Korir while Ethiopia's Tadu Abate took third place with a time of 2:06:28.

Kipchoge achieved halfway in 59:51 which, being at the time, the fastest split in marathon history, would have been a world record in the standalone half-marathon in 1993, and was only 26 seconds off his best in that distance.

However, after missing his water bottle and due to a left leg problem,[107][108] the 38-year-old was unable to stay with the lead group on a hilly section after the 30 km mark.

He ran alone from 32 kilometers (20 miles) onward after Ethiopia's Derseh Kindie dropped away, but fell short of breaking his own world record he set the previous year.

Kipchoge failed to finish the marathon for the first time in his career when defending his gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, dropping out of the race after around 30 km citing discomfort around his waist.