Eliud Kipchoge during his win at the Melbourne Marathon/ HANDOUTTwo-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge insists he still has enough gas in the tank to go toe-to-toe with the younger generation after storming to his first marathon victory since 2023 in a course-record performance at the Melbourne Marathon in Australia.
The 41-year-old Kenyan icon stopped the clock at 2:09:10 to claim the Melbourne Marathon crown, ending a three-year wait for a victory over the 42km distance.
Kipchoge’s last marathon triumph came at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, where he cruised to a 2:02:42 finish to secure his fifth title in the German capital, becoming the first athlete to achieve the feat.
His Melbourne triumph was equally significant, with the winning time shaving two seconds off the previous course record of 2:09:12 set by fellow Kenyan Timothy Ronoh in 2022.
In Melbourne, Kipchoge comfortably held off Thomas Canto, who clocked 2:10:35, while Reece Edwards completed the podium in 2:14:33.
The Australian race marked the third stop in Kipchoge’s ambitious mission to run a marathon on all seven continents, a journey that continues to add a new dimension to the illustrious career of one of distance running’s greatest ever athletes.
The Kenyan great believes his body remains in peak condition and capable of matching the younger generation, dismissing any suggestion that age had diminished his appetite for elite competition.
“I believe that my body is still peaking, still able to compete with the next generation,” Kipchoge said after the race.
“The oldest athlete is still competing, but I am happy to run with the Gen Zs.”
The veteran marathoner also revealed how he stepped up the pace in the closing stages, using the final kilometres to test his limits and hunt down the course record.
“I increased the pace after 30km, to see whether I can run well and beat the race record. My plan went well,” he said.
Beyond his performance on the road, Kipchoge praised the thousands of spectators who turned out to cheer the runners, describing the atmosphere as one of the most memorable he had experienced.
“The crowd is so wonderful, I’ve never seen a crowd like this,” he said. “Melbourne is really, really a sporting city.
“The experience is awesome, the culture of Melbourne is wonderful.”
Kipchoge’s global expedition began in Africa at the Cape Town Marathon on May 24, where he finished 16th in 2:13:29 before taking his quest to South America for the Porto Alegre Marathon in Brazil. In Brazil, the Kenyan great clocked 2:18:39 to finish 12th before heading to Australia.
Sunday’s race also marked Kipchoge’s second competitive appearance in Australia, having made his debut on the continent at the Sydney Marathon in 2025, where he clocked 2:08:30 to finish ninth. Kipchoge boasts one of the richest resumes in marathon history.
Alongside his Olympic triumphs in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, where he clocked 2:08:44 and Tokyo in 2020, where he won in 2:08:38, he is also one of the most successful athletes in the history of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, with an extraordinary 11 victories across the prestigious series.
His dominance on the streets of Berlin is legendary, having captured five titles in 2015 (2:04:00), 2017 (2:03:32), 2018 (2:01:39), 2022 (2:01:09) and 2023 (2:02:42). He also finished runner-up in the German capital in 2016 after clocking 2:03:23.
Kipchoge has similarly stamped his authority on the London Marathon, winning four titles in 2015 (2:04:42), 2016 (2:03:05), 2018 (2:04:17) and 2019 (2:02:37), while adding further major crowns in Chicago in 2014 (2:04:11) and Tokyo in 2021 (2:02:40).
His pursuit of excellence has also rewritten the history books, with Kipchoge breaking the men’s marathon world record twice in Berlin.
He first set the mark at 2:01:39 in 2018 and lowered it to 2:01:09 in 2022. Kipchoge’s name is also forever etched in athletics history after he became the first man to run a marathon in under two hours, albeit in an unofficial setting, when he clocked 1:59:40 during the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna in 2019.
