Two questions come to mind anytime Eliud Kipchoge toes the starting line of a marathon.
When will Kipchoge, who before Sunday morning had won 14 of the 16 official marathons he has entered, leave the rest of the field fighting for second place? And are the conditions such that he could shatter his own world record again?
On a sunny morning in Berlin, Kipchoge, a 37-year-old Kenyan, answered both questions unequivocally, winning the Berlin Marathon for a fourth time with a new world record of 2 hours 1 minute 10 seconds.
He set the previous world record — 2:01:39 — four years ago on this course.
Kipchoge has no equal in the distance.
In 2019 in Vienna, he became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, though his time of 1:59:40 was not recognized as a record because he ran on a controlled course with professional pacesetters. He also added another Olympic gold medal to his collection last year with a commanding win at the Tokyo Olympics, becoming only the third man to win back-to-back gold medals in the event.
He does not intend to slow down, either. He plans to defend his Olympic title at the 2024 Games in Paris.
