Why Eliud Kipchoge Had His Biggest Career Upset at Tokyo Marathon 2024

2024 will be one of the most contentious years in Olympic history. And no other domain is as aware of this as track and field. It’s been some hours since the 2024 Tokyo Marathon concluded as one of the prime events. But the path to the conclusion entailed success and setback stories, the standout being of Kenyan distance runner Eliud Kipchoge. As one of the greatest marathon runners in the world, a 10th finish in Tokyo came as a lightning strike on his head.

Having run 5 of the 10 fastest marathons, Kipchoge’s attempts never disappointed him, until it did this time. It sent shock waves throughout the athletic world, but there are speculations about the reason behind it. What really happened to him?

Possible causes behind Eliud Kipchoge’s recent upset

The recent loss can pose a serious issue in the future, thus corroding his glowing resume. So, the factors behind his ‘lowest’ marathon finish time demand a closer look at the situation. Totally Running Productions’ YouTube handle decided to “break down exactly what happened from Kipchoge’s perspective”. Three probable factors to start with, are shoes, weather, and pace.

Moving forward, equaling the pace of the lead athletes could have been an issue, but “when it comes to the exact thing, Kipchoge was slightly cryptic saying that something happened in the middle of the race and he’s not exactly sure what happened and he chalks it up to it just being a bad day”. But the TRP host wasn’t ready to count on that. He thought that Kipchoge was gasping by the 20km mark. Also, the sun was out throughout the race, making it difficult for the marathoners to maintain consistency. Here’s what the host scrutinized and concluded.

The real reason that impacted Kipchoge’s race

Looking at his past performances, “he ran his opening half in 59 minutes and 51 seconds and then he ran his second half marathon in 1 hour 1 minute and 18 seconds” in 2022 Berlin. This was his last record-breaking feat. Now, clocking in at 2:06.50 could be because “Father time just might be making an impact on his performances”. The 14x gold medalist across all events will now look to make the Paris team.

“I will go back, relax and start training. I think I’m ready for Paris” said the 39-year-old. The Kenyan governing body of the Olympics hasn’t yet surfaced with the Olympic selection notice yet. But it will be worth the wait, while he also lives the dream of his comrade, the late Kelvin Kiptum.

READ MORE: Who Was Driving the Car That Killed Kelvin Kiptum?