Eliud Kipchoge is widely considered one of the greatest distance runners of all time.
His career began in the 5000m, where he won a world championship and Olympic bronze and silver medals, but he is best known for breaking barriers in the marathon.
Winning back-to-back Olympic gold medals, becoming the first man to run a marathon under two hours, and breaking the world record not once, but twice, are accomplishments firmly cemented in Kipchoge's legacy.
But behind the records, world titles, and Olympic championships is a story.
One whose seeds of discipline, determination, and resilience were planted in Kenya's Rift Valley.
A place best known for its high altitude and fertile volcanic soil, conditions that have helped cultivate a fruitful agricultural landscape.
It's where Kipchoge's greatness took root. Home.
In the conversation below, part of the By Way of Africa series, Kipchoge reflects on the Kenyan values that shaped his success, the purpose behind his World Tour, and his hope not just for Africa but for the world.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Mary Omatiga:You’veentered a completely new chapter of your career with your World Tour. Why was now the right time to begin this journey?
Eliud Kipchoge:The World Tour was a beautiful thought. I woke up and made a decision with my team that instead of retiring, I would make a huge transition, visit the whole world, and [spread] the message of making this world a running world.
Over the next two and a half years, I will be running a marathon on every continent, including Antarctica. We're trying to bring more people along on this journey because we run together. Tell a friend to tell a friend that we need to run.
It's a beautiful purpose that I want to give the world. I've been in this sport for the last 23 years. Sport has actually been kind and nice to me. It's given me a platform to run city marathons, to break world records, to win Olympic medals, and world championships.
So, I asked myself after 23 years of real competitive running across the world, what can I offer to sport? What came to mind was to go all over the world, visit every continent, run a marathon, and make that continent a running continent. This is a gift from me to the world.
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That's amazing! You mentioned that you've been running competitively for 23 years. To really understand your journey and why this chapter matters, I think it's important that we take a step back and have people understand where you come from and how that's shaped you into who you are, so I want to talk about Kenya.
When people think of Kenya, they often think of its dominance in distance running, but for you, Kenya is home. What values from Kenyan culture have shaped who into you are today?
Kipchoge: Kenya is one of the East African countries. When the world thinks of Kenya, they think of distance running because of our environment, our altitude, and fruitful landscape. But above all, what drives all these factors is our values of discipline, consistency, honesty, and the next generation, because we need to get young people to come into sport.
Those are the values we as Kenyans — people who have been born, bred, and are training here in Kenya — are living by and working with every day.
You were raised by just your mom. I’ve heard you say that a boy being raised by a single mother is like being “the son of nobody”. There are a lot of people who aren’t from Kenya who don’t understand what that’s like.
Can you talk about what you experienced and the challenges it presented?
Kipchoge: Where I was born, in our culture, most people don't respect single mothers or children being taken care of by single mothers. They believe that the father is the only one who can give knowledge to the kids and protect them, but that's wrong. A parent is a parent. All children are the same.
I told myself: I have energy, knowledge, eyes to see, and legs to run. I will show these people that, although I was taken care of by a single mother, I will still run and beat those who were taken care of by two parents.
I always tell people that it's hard to actually become a man, compete, and keep your head up in Kenya when you've been raised by a single mother, but everybody is fighting for space.
I've stood tall, and I tell everybody, we are all the same. We are going to fight for the space, and the only way to fight for the space is to have the right values, train well, compete well, and use the platform in sport to change lives and the thinking of the people in our country.
One of the philosophies you're known for is “No human is limited”. People often equate that to your accomplishments on the track, but I can’t help but wonder whether that belief was born before the world knew your name.
Can you talk about how those early experiences from your childhood have shaped that philosophy?
Kipchoge: When I was young, I was disadvantaged. I was a vulnerable child because I did not receive love from two parents. But all in all, I believed in myself. That's what helped me get to where I am today. Sport gave me an opportunity, but it also gave me another way of thinking and a platform to tell people that we are not limited.
If Eliud, "the son of nobody", can come out and break a world record and run under two hours, and he was taken care of by a single mother, then why not you? We are living in the same space, but we are not limited at all.
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge crosses the finish line to win the Men’s Marathon athletics event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Sambodromo in Rio de Janeiro on August 21, 2016. (Photo by OLIVIER MORIN / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER MORIN/AFP via Getty Images)
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SAPPORO, JAPAN - AUGUST 08: Eliud Kipchoge of Team Kenya celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Men’s Marathon Final on day sixteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Sapporo Odori Park on August 08, 2021 in Sapporo, Japan. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
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BERLIN, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 16: Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya crosses the finishing line to win the Berlin Marathon 2018 in a new world record time of 2:01:40 hours (later officially annouced by organisers to be 2:01:39) on September 16, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Bongarts/Getty Images)
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You’re so well known for having this mindset of discipline and resilience. Where does that come from?
Kipchoge: I think I learned little by little when I came into running, but above all, I think it came from the life of my mom. Living with her, watching her be consistent, and seeing her fight for us — providing for our family and being the only fighter — I think that's where my consistency came from. That's where discipline came in. That's where working hard actually came in.
Those values have given me a lot of fruit. I didn't know that I would run internationally and become a big athlete, but because of the small values that I practiced when I was young, that's who I’ve become.
You’ve inspired so many people, but you've said that it's actually the people who encourage and energize you. What does the running community mean to you?
Kipchoge: The running community has made me who I am today. When I open social media, I see a lot of messages on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp from people [supporting] what I'm doing.
When I wake up in the morning and go for a run, young kids recognize my name and my face. It's really motivating and inspiring. The world keeps giving me gifts by allowing children as young as five or six years old to know who I am. Sometimes I ask myself,
"Is this real?"
That’s what actually keeps me going and makes me wake up early to go outside for a run.
I want to shift gears for a moment and talk about your tour. You opened up your World Tour in Cape Town, and that was actually your very first marathon on African soil. What made that experience so meaningful to you?
Kipchoge: First and foremost, it's that Africa is home. Africa is where I was born. Africa is where I was actually taken care of. Africa is where I'm living at the moment. Africa is a small continent with a lot of energy and energetic youth, so it was really good for me to start in my own home, and Cape Town was the only city where I felt I should begin and show Africa that I'm starting my tour here.
The Cape Town Marathon is now among the world's major marathons, the only big marathon in Africa, and that's where we made our mark. I left footprints there — footprints of unity, togetherness, and of being passionate in any sport that you love.
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What does it mean for you to see the accomplishment of having Cape Town become a major world marathon location?
Kipchoge: It means everything to me, because it's the gift to our African children, it's the gift to African people, it's the gift to our young African continent. I really, really love it. I think one day I would like to meet all the directors who made this possible and say thank you in a personal way.
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Brazil and Australia are stops on your world tour. What made you pick these locations?
Kipchoge: Rio was still on my mind because that's where I won my first gold medal. When I looked at all the marathons, I said, let me go back to Brazil and give back to the people after ten years, because they gave me the opportunity to run in their streets.
The 2016 Olympics were a huge opportunity for me, and they really uplifted my career.
Porto Alegre was the best choice in South America because I wanted to go to a small city and run for them.
You’ve said that you're no longer running for medals or records, but for purpose. Can you talk a little bit more about what that purpose is and why it's so important to you?
Kipchoge: The first purpose is to make this world a running world. The second is actually to run for education for any vulnerable child in this world. Through my foundation, I want to raise funds to build libraries and plant trees to help conserve the environment. But I am really focusing on giving education to every young and vulnerable child in this world. Not just in Kenya or Africa alone, but all over the world.
Click to learn more about The Eliud Kipchoge Foundation
We are working for the next generation, and the first thing they need is education. The second is to conserve the environment because the planet is our only home. We need to take care of this home by making it clean.
Throughout your career, you’ve emphasized the importance of paying it forward and giving back to the next generation. Who did you look up to when you were younger?
Kipchoge: When I was young, I wanted to be like the great Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia. He ran across the world and became one of the best. Ethiopia is our neighbor, just across from Kenya. But I wanted to be like him. The spirit of Haile changed Ethiopia.
For two decades, you’ve represented not only Kenya but the entire African continent. What has that responsibility meant to you?
Kipchoge: It means a lot to me. It gives me time to actually represent the people of Africa and tell Africans: You can do more. You can compete with everybody in this world. We can compete with the other six continents.
I'm happy that they are now in real competition. They can play football, tennis, run, and they can [excel] in any kind of sport. Africa is now growing in a good way. We are young, we are energetic, brilliant people.
How do you want the world to see Africa? What do you hope they see?
Kipchoge: I want the world to see Africa as a positive continent. I want the world to see Africa as the best technological continent, because we have young people with the right mindset — full of technology, full of energy to run, to play football, and full of energy to stand for positivity in this world.
What's your hope for Africa’s next generation, and what do you hope that young girls and boys take away from your journey?
Kipchoge: I hope Africa's next generation creates positivity in this world. I hope that Africans will occupy spaces in technology, in law, in running, mining, manufacturing — in every sort of sector in this world. I believe Africa will take up those spaces.
What the young generation can learn from me is to believe that no human is limited. They can stand in any place, push, and fight for their space.
If you could sit down with the 16-year-old Eliud, just beginning his journey, what would you tell him?
Kipchoge: I would tell the young Eliud to be moredisciplined, more consistent, and more honest and positive in this world — to accommodate everybody.
Editor’s Note:By Way of Africais a series committed to highlighting the talent and stories from the African continent and its diaspora. African stories are worth telling, and the culture—all of the languages, tribes, and traditions—is worth celebrating. Embedded in these narratives is a profound testament to the diligence, discipline, and work ethic deeply ingrained in African heritage. Whether born on the continent or dispersed across the globe, the contributions of these stories to society resound uniquely, by way of Africa.
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