Have we already found the heir apparent to Eliud Kipchoge?

It’s a Kenyan-Irish guy called Eliudson O’Kipchoge.

OK, I'll bite on this one (which reminds me of the "what would Sammy Wanjiru done if he hadn't died" discussion that got silenced fairly quickly because of the emergence of Kipchoge).

There's more than just times to become the GOAT. There is a level of dominance, a redefining of the event that is more than just times. Its championships and times and a very high profile "rise to the competition" again and again and again that becomes a must-see sporting event.

I've said this before and will continue to: marathons became dominated by "faceless Africans" for years and years - its why World XC, once one of the best events on the athletics calendar, got moved to every other year. They didn't speak english, weren't good at media, just showed up with names that the USA and BBC couldn't pronounce well and then disappeared. Is this a white media bias? Absolutely, but its what happened. And a little of that is also technology: in grainy, 525 scanlines TV sets, you just couldn't see the athletes well with dark skin in shadow or back lit. Once you had HD, you could see just how had it was even for them; how hard they were actually working. And Nike and Adidas didn't even figure out that the pro athlete kits some seasons didn't look good against dark brown skin as opposed to European medium pink. Good job.

Kipchoge became must-see for years. They hyped him up, race after race, and he delivered. When, with the older shoes, the typical elite marathoner's career peak was 2.5 years (as figured out years ago by the Brojos), Kipchoge defied expectations again and again. Winning Berlin with the insoles coming out of his shoes? Epic.

And perfect for the media.

The media has to WANT to love you. You give them eyeballs, something to talk about before during and after, continued content, you can speak well and they will make you a STAR.

So you gotta have everything and Kipchoge had it: the Zen persona, the times, the staged events, the wins and the longevity. That is a rare, rare, rare combination. For his insane excellence at all disciplines, Bekele didn't have it. Track fans know his dominance in XC and track, and how, when he focused, how good he could have been at the marathon. He wasn't the right guy. And had he lived, Wanjiru was clearly not the guy. The times and wins might have been there, but he wouldn't have been advertising products on adverts in Heathrow outside of London Marathon weekend.

So now to Kiptum - this is tough and we will truly never know, but running sub-59 for the second half? Given the incredulity of Asseffa's and Ruth's WRs on the women's side, the questions that Kiptum didn't have to answer, and that Sawe is desperately trying to get ahead of, would certainly have come, as well as the scrutiny. It will always be a massive "What would have happened..."

All I know is that the media will fish around desperately for a Kipchoge replacement, but even if he is Sawe, we won't know that for a few years. Eulid is going to continue to be present in the media, which will continue to cast a long shadow, and Sawe will have to continue winning for at least 3 years at majors and the Olympics and get very, very good at media to have a crack at even being considered the "next up."

I think Kiplimo has figured the marathon out and it’s not impossible he could go on a run like Kipchoge. He’s that talented.

If we're gonna posthumously scrutinize Kiptum then there's no reason Kipchoge should get off the hook.

Kipchoge got the Bolt treatment. They would never pop him because he reached such a level of notoriety that it would be bad for the sport to do so.

Is your keyboard broken?

.....

No your mother's back is

Fisher. Maybe running London marathon 2026

thinking about jacob, and it seems that zero olympic 1500 guys or even medalists have ever run a great marathon. like zero. so anaerobic ability subtracts from maximal energy systems, if that is the right phrasing..

Do you realize that the reigning women’s Olympic champion in the marathon is an Olympic 1500m medalist? Also, the reigning bronze medalist in the marathon also started her career with a 1500 medal at the World Championships.

I think Sawe will be the guy. He is 30 but since he only became serious in 2018-19, I think he can be a stud until 2032. He has good coaching, is willing to put himself out there in terms of drug testing and media (unlike Kiplimo), and tactically seems sharper than Kiplimo. I’d trust Sawe to close the last 400 like a freight train, and Kiplimo to struggle to drop him and misjudge his finish. Small sample size, but we saw it in a head to head in 2024 at the Copenhagen half. Even though Kiplimo’s Chicago was great I wonder if he’d run that way on a hot day his last mile (which was already bad) might’ve been truly terrible. Sawe is a very patient guy, he who strikes last and best wins the marathon. Kiplimo has only been consistent in that in Cross Country.

Interesting article/hot takes. Think the case is there for Sawe or Kiplimo, but then you make a stronger argument against them re Kipchoge's consistency & his times compared to the WR when he was running earlier in his career (plus marathon #2 losing to someone who got banned).

I don't get knocking NYC's field. They're always going to face an uphill battle, competing with Berlin/Chicago/Amsterdam/Valencia. Athletes want to run fast in the super shoe era. We're all complicit. You need cover, to some extent, to choose NYC over the others, meaning you need to already have a fast PB or you're known as more of a racer. Multiple runners had to drop out & NYC was still top-heavy. It might not have had the same depth as the other majors, but we saw two great runners battle to the finish line, and we saw a big pack together pretty late into the race, which resulted in a lot of runners finishing in the 2:09-2:10 range on a tough course.

I don't really get going after the 6 star stuff. Comes across as a bit elitist/this site not having a pulse on where the average runner is at. I know lots of people trying to tackle the different majors & qualify for AG World Champs. Maybe Kipchoge getting the medal doesn't track as one of the best runners in the sport, but he's a great ambassador for the sport so I could see how he would do that & how this site would try to pick it apart. I tend to think it would be cool if World Athletics could develop real age group championship type events. This happens in other endurance sports. Would be cool to see the best age group runners flocking to a different city every year to compete. I know they're trying to do something like this, but it hasn't caught on yet.

Unfortunately he died. 2:01; 2:01; 2:00 He was destined to become the greatest Marathoner and he was likely going to run sub 2 in his next attempt to lower his current WR. Sawe is a good prospect, but it will take another 2 or 3 years to find out.

Chicago was a reminder of how absurd 00:35 is, and how easy we forgot what 01:09 meant just 3 years ago.

I don't see Sawe (who is great) achieving the 2nd best time ever. Sub 2:01

I know about the weather but his times seems very stable. I hope he enters the select 2:01 few.

I see Kiplimo running faster than Kipchoge. Kiptum is still a stretch.

And I wouldn't be surprised if they are retired by the 2028 Olympics unless they don't get to reach these times.

You need someone with the longevity of career Kipchoge had/has. I would put Bekele right up there with him. His sub 2:02 was just as good.

Oh, no question that Kipchoge may have gotten the Bolt treatment. That bothers me less than the whole Dibaba Family/Adan connection but your mileage may vary. The fact is that there is a "too big to fail" level that we can all come up with names for that World Athletics will never bust. They would fear that it would take down the entire sport.

I love how I have some downvotes already and not a single person has actually said what they disagree with on my criteria for the media darling that might step into Eulid's shoes.

I still don't think he has figured it out. He's run 56:42 for god;s sake. Yet only 2:02?

Who knows? Kiplimo is listed as 24 years old, but he ran 27:26 nine years ago. It is difficult to know what to believe. He might have run his fastest time already, or he might continue to improve at 26.2.