'It will not happen in my life...' Eliud Kipchoge rubbishes weird tradition

Piece by: star.writer
Lifestyle

World record holder Eliud Kipchoge will spend some time celebrating his historic sub-2-hour marathon run at the INEOS1:59Challenge, where he clocked 1:59:40 in Vienna, Austria over the weekend, before deciding what to do next.

Kipchoge sneaked back into the country on Wednesday morning where he is set to embark on celebrations alongside his team, family and training mates at the Global Communications camp in Kaptagat, Nandi County.

“Now I am concentrating purely on celebrating. It is good to celebrate, calm down, thank my team again, sit down together and plan on what’s next,” said Kipchoge.

However, he ruled out going full-throttle, saying: “I will not go haywire while celebrating. I always celebrate in a calm, humane way.”

He also ruled out slaughtering cattle: “It will not happen in my life. My biggest celebration is at the finishing line.”

Kipchoge neither confirmed nor denied that he will be defending his Olympic Games marathon title in Tokyo next year, saying that it is still early.

“I don’t want to talk much about Tokyo but I think I will be at the starting line. I still have many months before Tokyo and I need to celebrate first,” he said.

Kipchoge added that having learnt that people back home were celebrating when he achieved his target in Vienna is his happiness and the "inspiration I have been instilling in their minds all along”.

“My message to them is thank you for sacrificing their 1:59:40 hours to sit down to watch me run. I always tell them ‘please get inspired and put it in mind that no human is limited.’

“Running sub-2 hours means a lot. I have left a legacy and made history and I think I have inspired most of the children,” he said.

And despite his heroics, Kipchoge now wants the world to move forward to other things that can continue shaping humanity.

“I never doubted myself. I always believed in myself that I will go through it. I don’t come to such a race in a 50/50 (situation). I come here 90-100 per cent,” he revealed.

- The Star/ Muigai Kiguru