Athletics lovers are keen on the track as World Marathon record holders Eliud Kipchoge and Edna Kiplagat are set to show a bruising display in the World Championships, Olympic Games and the World Marathon Majors series this evening.
In what is expected to be a mouthwatering clash, Eliud Kipchoge will lead defending champion Evans Chebet and Chicago Marathon winner Benson Kipruto against Ethiopians in two-time Boston Marathon winner Lelisa Desisa and Shura Kitata, who thrashed him at the 2020 London Marathon.
Kenyans and Ethiopians have over the past tussled for the medals in the long sprints with athletes from the two countries often dominating the Olympics to the chagrin of their compatriots from across the globe.
And with the 127th marathon set to kick off this evening in Boston, a looming showdown is expected among Kenyan top marathoners as they battle for medals alongside other world legends.
Kipchoge, a four-time winner in different track series (London, Berlin, Tokyo and Chicago) will be eyeing his fifth stab at the gold medal ahead of the New York marathon set for November.
Buoyed by the impressive performance in his last marathon, Kipchoge is head-high with the optimism of making another sterling show in this year’s marathon.
However, it may not be a walk in the park as the Greatest of All Times (G.O.A.T) will be facing off with three former Boston Winners alongside seasoned marathoners.
Chebet ran in a span of 2:06:51 to bag his Boston Marathon victory in 2022 before bagging another gold medal in the New York Marathon in November 2022, making him the sixth man to ever win both the Boston and New York City marathon twice in the same year.
Kipruto on the other hand bagged the 2021 Boston Marathon in 2:09:51 before falling third place in 2022. He later made a grand comeback and bagged the Chicago marathon later in October with just 2:04:24
The men’s category will also see Ethiopias Desisa, a two-time Boston Winner and Shura Kitata, the 2020 London marathon’s overall best.
In the women’s category, two times Boston winner Edna Kiplagat will lead Kenya’s side comprising Hellen Obiri, the two-time world 5000m champion, who ran her first marathon in New York in November finishing sixth as well as Mary Ngugi and Former world half marathon record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei.
They are set to face Ababel Yeshane and Amane Beriso, Ethiopia’s fastest female marathoner who won the Valencian Marathon in December last year
