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Eliud Kipchoge has explained a back injury forced him to drop out of the Olympic marathon at Paris 2024 in the first ‘DNF’ of his marathon career.
The Kenyan was dropped in the first half of the race, but pushed on to the 31km before stepping off the course with further physical pain in his waist.
Ethiopian runner Tamirat Tola won gold, despite not initially being on the team to participate. He thrived as a late replacement for Sisay Lemma to claim gold and set a new Olympic record on the challenging Paris course in a time of 2:06:26.
Great Britain’s Emile Cairess impressed but narrowly missed out on a medal after finishing just over a minute behind the champion in fourth.
Kipchoge, who was the two-time defending Olympic champion pariticpating in his fifth Olympics, is now 39 years of age.
And his struggles here follows a 10th place in Tokyo, leaving an uncertain future in the sport after failing to complete the distance for the first time in his career.
“I had a pain in my back at about 20km and decided not to finish and try to get out,” he said. “The hills didn’t affect me at all. The pain made me stop."
“I walked for 2km and had more than 300 people on either side of me walking with me. That’s why I don’t have my shirt, the socks, the shoes, the race number.”
Kipchoge accepted his ‘DNF’ was part of the event and “that’s life,” before making a comparison with boxing.
“Today was a tough day at the office. You can train for a very long time but one day, it can happen,” he added.
“It’s like boxing. You can go to a training camp for five months and be knocked out in two seconds. But life will continue.
“This is my worst marathon. I have never done a DNF [did not finish]. That’s life. Like a boxer, I have been knocked down, I have won, I have come second, eighth, 10th, fifth – now I did not finish. That’s life.”
Fans started to question whether Kipchoge will race the distance again, but Kipchoge has not rushed to make any decision, with a rest next to decide what he will do 11 years after switching to the 26.2-mile distance.
“I don’t want to comment on what will happen tomorrow. I want to try to evolve - if I don’t evolve, then I do other things,” he said.
“I don’t know what my future will hold. I will think about it over the next three months. I still want to try to run some marathons.”
Kipchoge could be seen gifting fans his shoes and vest after stepping off the course, while he also knocked back pleas from his fellow runners to push through the pain.
“The other runners were telling me to push on,” Kipchoge revealed. “But I was telling them, 'No, I have pain, I can’t'. I could feel the love and respect from them.”
Kipchoge could be seen at the finish line, following a lift from officials, with fans flocking to greet the legendary Kenyan.
Kipchoge then gifted his vest to a young supporter before attending to his media duties.
