• Kipchoge Aims for Historic Third Gold Medal: With his selection to the Kenya Olympic Team, he aims to win an unthinkable third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the marathon.
• Peres Jepchirchir Aims for Back-to-Back Olympic Gold: Reigning Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir will race to become the first woman to achieve back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the marathon event.
• Passing of Kelvin Kiptum Leaves Void in Team Lineup: The recent passing of Kelvin Kiptum, the world record holder in the marathon, has left a significant void in Kenya’s team lineup.

Securing a spot on Kenya’s Olympic marathon team is a really big deal because so many of the world’s best marathoners are, in fact, from Kenya. There’s been a lot of talk about who would make the team and, equally as interesting, who would not. On May 1st, 2024 Athletics Kenya and the National Olympics Committee of Kenya announced the final squad of three men and three women.

Eliud Kipchoge and Peres Jepchirchir, gold medalists from the Tokyo Olympics, have been selected to lead Kenya’s marathon team for the Paris Olympic Games. This gives Kipchoge the opportunity to make history as the first person to win back-to-back-to-back gold medals in the marathon. This also gives Jepchirchir a chance to become the first woman to achieve back-to-back gold medals in the event.

Team Kenya – The Journey from 10 Athletes to the Final 3

In December 2023, Athletics Kenya unveiled a preliminary roster of 10 male and 10 female marathoners. By early April 2024, the field was narrowed down to five men and six women, with the final decisions awaiting performances at the Boston and London Marathons. On May 1, 2024, Athletics Kenya made its official announcement, revealing the names of the athletes who had secured coveted spots on the Olympic team. The selection process, conducted by a committee, considered various factors including performances in World Marathon Majors and recent races. This differs from the USA who uses a trials race to determine the three men and three women who would represent the country at the Olympics. Kenya’s final selections have been met with some criticism due to lack of transparency, leading to speculation about potential influences from sponsors on the final decisions.

Kenya’s Men’s Team – Kipchoge, Kipruto and Munyao

The former world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge, is joined by Benson Kipruto and Alexander Mutiso Munyao. This will be the first Olympic games for both Kipruto and Munyao. Kipruto is a strong pick for Kenya because he won the 2024 Tokyo Marathon in March, winning in a time of 2:02:16, which is a course record by 24 seconds. He’s also finished in the top three of his last seven marathons overall, including wins at the 2021 Boston Marathon and 2022 Chicago Marathon.

His recent win at the 2024 London Marathon, makes it easy to understand why Athletics Kenya selected Alexander Mutiso Munyao to the team. Even though Munyao is new to the marathon he has a very impressive personal best of 2:03:11. His victory in London was made even more special because he had to beat Olympic champion and distance running legend, Kenenisa Bekele. With recent marathon victories in Prague and a second place finish in Valencia, Munyao appears capable and ready to be competitive in Paris.

Timothy Kiplagat, who was 2nd in Tokyo this year in 2:02:55 behind Benson Kipruto, was listed as the reserve for the men’s team.

Missing Kelvin Kiptum, World Record Holder

The recent passing of Kelvin Kiptum, the world record holder in the marathon, has left a void in the Kenyan team’s lineup. Kiptum’s anticipated participation in the Olympic race, scheduled for August 10th, would have seen him challenging for the gold medal alongside Eliud Kipchoge. Kiptum died in a road accident in February at the age of just 24, just months after he claimed the world record with a time of 2 hours and 35 seconds at the Chicago Marathon in 2023.

Kipchoge Racing for Historic 3rd Gold Medal (and 5th Olympic Medal)

Eliud Kipchoge is unquestionably a legendary figure in marathon running. With his selection to the Kenya Olympic Team, he now has a chance to add to his legacy by doing something that’s never been done before – winning an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the marathon. It’s worth noting that this is also Eliud’s fifth Olympic Games and, with a top 3 finish, he would earn a fifth Olympic medal. With a notable 2:02:42 victory at the Berlin Marathon, Kipchoge remains a formidable contender poised to make history at the Paris Olympics. His performance last September in Berlin positioned Kipchoge as the fastest Kenyan man in 2023 outside of the late Kelvin Kiptum who ran 2:00:35 in Chicago.

Kipchoge, at 39 years old, will become the oldest Kenyan track and field athlete to compete at an Olympics and the first Kenyan in any sport to compete in five different Olympics. Can he pull off the historic win? It’s not going to be easy because there’s a lot of time for something to go wrong in the marathon. Based on his past, however, it’s hard to deny his ability to show up in high pressure moments and deliver historical results.

Who Didn’t Make Kenya’s Men’s Team

Evans Chebet, the winner of the 2022 Boston and NYC Marathons and 2023 Boston Marathon didn’t make the team. Based on Chebet’s performances in 2022 and 2023, there was a clear argument for him being 1 of the 3 runners selected for Kenya’s team. As a three-time World Major Marathon champion, it’s assumed that he was left off the five-person shortlist announced by Athletics Kenya in early April because of an Achilles injury. This injury limited him during the second half of 2023, making him an unreliable candidate for the Olympic team.

Kenya’s Women’s Team – Jepchirchir, Obiri and Kosgei

Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning Olympic champion in the women’s marathon, gets to defend her title and race to become the first woman to achieve back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the marathon event. She’s the only person, male or female, to win the Olympic, Boston and New York City marathons in a career. The only other runner to come close to this feat is American Meb Keflezighi. He’s the only Marathoner in history to win the Boston Marathon, the New York City Marathon, and an Olympic Medal (Silver in Athens in 2004).

Compared to Kenya’s men’s team, the women’s squad is more experienced on the world’s stage. In addition to her 2020 Olympic gold, Jepchirchir is a three-time half marathon world champion. And, she just broke the women’s only world record at the 2024 London Marathon. The team includes Hellen Obiri who has won her last three marathons. She won Boston twice and New York once. She will be making her Olympic marathon debut in Paris this summer. In the last two Olympic games, she’s earned silver in the 5000 meters. Her goal is to finally win the gold medal that has eluded her.

And then there’s the former world marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei. She held the world record of 2:14:04 from 2019-23. She won a silver medal in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics. Even though a few of her most recent marathon performances haven’t been her best, her course record at the Abu Dhabi Marathon and fifth place finish in London secured her selection for the team.

Sharon Lokedi, who won the 2022 New York Marathon and placed second at the 2024 Boston Marathon, was listed as the reserve for the women’s team.

Who Didn’t Make Kenya’s Women’s Team

Rosemary Wanjiru, the fastest time by a Kenyan woman in 2024, wasn’t named to the team. She ran a time of 2:16:14 to earn a second place finish at the Tokyo Marathon in March. She was also the second-fastest Kenyan woman in 2023 with a time of 2:16:28. By finishing third place, in a time of 2:16.24 at the 2024 TCS London Marathon, Joyciline Jepkosgei is another athlete who made a strong case for herself. If she was on the shortlist, this strong performance would have positioned her for selection – at the very least, as an alternate. Kenya’s depth of talent is evident when athletes like Wanjiru can be omitted from the team, yet it remains one of the world’s strongest squads.

Kenyan Women’s Olympic Marathon Team

• Peres Jepchirchir (2:16:16, London 2024)
• Brigid Kosgei (2:14:04, Chicago 2019)
• Hellen Obiri (2:25:49, New York City 2022)
• Alternate: Sharon Lokedi (2:23:23, New York City 2022)

Kenyan Men’s Olympic Marathon Team

• Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:09, Berlin 2022)
• Benson Kipruto (2:02:16, Tokyo 2024)
• Alexander Mutiso Munyao (2:03:11, Valencia 2023)
• Alternate: Timothy Kiplagat (2:02:55, Tokyo 2024)

Date of Olympic Marathon Races

The Olympic marathon races are scheduled for August 10th and 11th in Paris. The men’s marathon will kick off on August 10th. The women’s race will take place on August 11th, marking a historic moment because this will be the first time the women’s marathon will close out an Olympic Games.