World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge is keen on adding a third Olympics gold medal before he thinks of retiring from athletics.
Kipchoge will be in Paris next year as he attempts to become the first man to win a hat-trick of Olympics marathon golds and he is confident of winning given his experience and training.
“The priority now is to focus on the Olympics and win a third time. The other (challenges) will come later,” Kipchoge told AFP.
His two Olympic marathon gold medals in 2016 and 2021 put him at level with Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila (1960, 1964) and Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany (1976, 1980) but a third in the French capital would make Kipchoge the undisputed marathon giant at the Games, and bring him a victory steeped in symbolism.
Paris where Kipchoge won his first international crown in 2003 at the age of 18, clinching the 5,000m World Championship gold ahead of sporting legends Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.
Kipchoge also weighed in on his disappointing sixth-place finish at the Boston Marathon in April, pinning the loss on a hamstring injury and not the tough and hilly course in the American city as claimed by some observers.
“I’m trying to forget what has happened in Boston. It’s caught in my mind but I believe that what has passed has passed,” he added.
“It is not (hilly course) really a concern, but I respect everybody’s thoughts. I think it was a bad day and every day is a different day. I’m looking forward for next year. Everybody can write anything, you have no control. But I know myself.”
