Eliud Kipchoge & Sifan Hassan Will Run 2024 Tokyo Marathon
Kipchoge set the CR in Tokyo in 2022 while Hassan is making her Tokyo debut
By Jonathan Gault
Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan will headline the 2024 Tokyo Marathon on March 3, their management agency Global Sports Communication announced on Thursday. Kipchoge will return for his second Tokyo Marathon after setting the course record of 2:02:40 in 2022 despite a wrong turn at 10k. Hassan, who won marathons in London and Chicago last year, will run Tokyo for the first time.
Four quick thoughts on today’s announcement:
1) Kipchoge’s quest to win all six Abbott World Marathon Majors will have to wait
Kipchoge has said that he would eventually like to win every World Marathon Major, and so far he has won four of the six: Tokyo, London, Berlin, and Chicago. Recently, however, Kipchoge has passed up opportunities to win the final two, Boston and New York — the only two with significant hills (and without pacers). Last year, Kipchoge ran Boston but finished 6th. He then bypassed New York in the fall to run Berlin, which he won for a record fifth time in 2:02:42. Kipchoge said after Boston in April that he planned to return and win one day. But it will not be in 2024 — with Tokyo just six weeks before Boston, there is no way Kipchoge runs both races.
Kipchoge has made it clear that his number one aim is to become the first man to win three straight Olympic marathons in Paris next year. Every decision he has made in the last year has been centered around that goal, beginning with his decision to run Berlin over New York last fall. Rather than challenge himself in New York after a humbling defeat in Boston, Kipchoge returned to the familiar in Berlin and got back on track with a comfortable victory. Kipchoge’s agent Valentijn Trouw also noted to LetsRun that the timing was important: had Kipchoge done New York, that would have meant running three marathons in the span of 40 weeks (New York, Tokyo, Olympics), something Kipchoge had never done before. Running Berlin gave Kipchoge an extra six weeks.
Those two factors — familiarity and timing — are likely why Kipchoge chose Tokyo over Boston in 2024. Kipchoge has run and won Tokyo before, and the course did not beat him up like Boston did this year, when Kipchoge complained of a leg injury at 30k. By running Tokyo, Kipchoge also gives himself an extra six weeks to prepare for the Olympics — Tokyo is 23 weeks before the Games while Boston (April 15) is only 17.
The flip side of that argument is that Kipchoge has not had any problem with that sort of turnaround in the past. In 2016, Kipchoge won Olympic gold in Rio 17 weeks after winning London that spring. In 2021, the turnaround was even tighter; he won the Olympics in Sapporo just 16 weeks after his win at the NN Mission Marathon in Enschede.
It would be silly to suggest the course profiles of Tokyo and Boston had nothing to do with Kipchoge’s decision, but the fact that Kipchoge chose Tokyo over London as well indicates the timing may have been important. Kipchoge likes running in London, and London is able to pay a much bigger appearance fee than Tokyo — especially with London’s defending champions Hassan and Kelvin Kiptum opting for other races this spring.
Yet Kipchoge still chose Tokyo (23 weeks before Paris) over London (16 weeks before). At 39, he may want to maximize his recovery time to ensure he is at his best in Paris.
Kipchoge has never run three marathon in the same calendar year, but said he might consider it in the future. Would he consider running New York next fall? If not, he’ll have to wait until 2025 for the chance to win Boston or New York.
It’s interesting to consider which accomplishment would enhance Kipchoge’s legacy more: a third straight Olympic gold or wins in Boston and New York to complete his set of WMM victories. Usain Bolt is the only runner to win three Olympic golds in the same event, so for Kipchoge to triple up in Paris would put him in truly elite company. But wins in Boston and New York would clear up the only holes on his towering résumé.
For marathon purists, wins in Boston and New York would go farther to cement Kipchoge’s legacy as the all-around marathon GOAT — and not just the GOAT of flat marathons. But considering how hilly the Paris course is, a win there could end up killing two birds with one stone.
2) Kipchoge vs. Kiptum will have to wait until Paris (at least)
Eliud Kipchoge vs. Kelvin Kiptum was the race the marathon world wanted to see last fall, and that was before Kiptum ran 2:00:35 in Chicago to break Kipchoge’s world record. But with Kipchoge running Tokyo on March 3 and Kiptum running Rotterdam on April 14, we are going to have to wait until the Olympics (at least) to see the two fastest marathoners of all time square off.
That said, it will be pretty epic if their first matchup comes at the Olympics with Kiptum as world record holder and Kipchoge as the two-time defending champion. And considering both won their fall marathons in 2023, the odds are very good that both will be on the start line in Paris if they’re healthy.
3) Tokyo makes sense for Hassan, who gets a new challenge and plenty of time to recover before the Olympics…could she challenge the world record?
Sifan Hassan showed in 2023 that she doesn’t need much time to recover between major events, winning the London Marathon in April, claiming two medals at the World Championships on the track in August, and winning the Chicago Marathon in the #2 time ever in October. She probably could have gone back to London in 2024 and still be competitive in whichever events she chooses to run in Paris.
But women’s running has never been more competitive. Hassan did not win a single gold in Budapest — instead, the golds went to Faith Kipyegon and Gudaf Tsegay, two all-time greats at the peak of their powers. If Hassan is to defeat them in Paris, she needs to give herself every possible advantage — which makes Tokyo a more logical selection since it gives her an extra seven weeks of track training ahead of the Olympics compared to London (six weeks compared to Boston).
We still don’t know which events Hassan will run at the Olympics, and if she follows her recent pattern, she won’t announce her plans to the world until the last minute. But considering Hassan has already attempted the 1500-5k-10k triple twice (2021 Olympics and 2023 Worlds), the bet here is that she runs at least one track event plus the marathon in Paris. Hassan likes to challenge herself and trying to become the first woman to medal on the track and in the marathon at the same Olympics would qualify as a huge challenge.
It’s also going to be interesting to see how Hassan approaches Tokyo. When Hassan won London last spring, she still had one eye on the track and her buildup reflected that. Last fall, she ran 2:13:44 in Chicago just six weeks after tripling at Worlds. We’ve never had the chance to see what she does with the marathon as her sole focus.
The world record of 2:11:53 is nearly two minutes faster than what Hassan ran in Chicago. But if Hassan does a full, marathon-focused buildup for Tokyo, it would not be a surprise to see her challenge the WR.
4) London misses out on Kipchoge, Hassan, and Kiptum
London has the biggest budget of any World Marathon Major, and as a result often attracts the biggest stars and best fields. Thus, today’s news came as a bit of a blow to the 2024 London Marathon — it won’t have either of its defending champions (unless Hassan does something crazy and tries to run London seven weeks after Tokyo) and it won’t have Kipchoge either.
But there’s not much London could have done. London offered Kiptum an enormous appearance fee but lost out because Kiptum is racing in Rotterdam instead, where Kiptum’s agent Marc Corstjens is in charge of the elite field. And for Kipchoge and Hassan, the timing of Tokyo makes far more sense in an Olympic year than London (plus Hassan likes to try new things and she has already won London).
