Olympic Champ Joins Thousands in Paris Run

Eliud Kipchoge starts at the back of the race on the Champs-Elysees
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 31, 2021 11:40 AM CDT
Olympic Champ Joins Thousands in Paris Run
Runners get ready for the start of the "Marathon for All Paris 24" on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Some 3,600 amateur runners faced off Sunday against Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge in a special race in the heart of Paris, an event tied to the city's hosting of the 2024 Olympics. The runners raced along the historic, cobblestoned Champs-Elysees, with Kipchoge starting off last, darting alongside. All those the Kenyan failed to catch over the 5-kilometer race—more than 1,000 people—won access to an Olympic-related marathon in 2024, according to organizers. The event was organized to mark 1,000 days before the Paris Games.

Kipchoge won gold in the Olympic marathon in August and in 2016, and is the world record holder for the marathon with a time of 2 hours, 1 minute, 39 seconds. Kenya-born Kipchoge, 36, said he doesn't know yet whether he'll race in Paris in 2024, but he said Sunday that "I am happy to be an ambassador for 2024. Even if I will not be running I will be there to encourage people." He called Sunday's race a "wonderful experience."

(More Eliud Kipchoge stories.)

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