Bekele Named in Ethiopian Olympic Team

41-year-old to line up against Eliud Kipchoge in the marathon in Paris

16th May 2024

Fans will be treated to the return of one of the greats of distance running at the Paris 2024 Olympics, after Kenenisa Bekele was named in the Ethiopian team for the marathon after a remarkable return to form over the last year. After a decade of mixed results, ‘Did Not Finishes’ and ‘Did Not Starts’ since his switch to the marathon in 2014, Bekele has shown the most consistency of his marathon career over the last six months, following up a 2:04:17 at Valencia in December with an even more impressive 2:04:15 for second place at the London Marathon in April, setting the over-40 world record in the process.

All of which will see him line up alongside Eliud Kipchoge, the man many consider the marathon G.O.A.T, in August, 21 years on from their classic battle in the World Championships 5000m final in the same city. Kipchoge shocked the distance running world to outkick Bekele as an 18-year-old that day, but when they resume battle this summer, it would still be more of a shock to see Bekele return the favour.

Kipchoge’s marathon record reads 16 wins in 20 starts since his debut in 2013, a remarkable conversion rate. He has run 2:04 or quicker every year in that time (excluding this year), became the first man to run the marathon distance in under 2 hours at the uncertified INEOS challenge in 2019, and has won the gold medal at the last two Olympic Games. On the other hand, Bekele is seen as a great athlete whose comparative lack of discipline and consistency over the last decade has seen him unable to fulfill his potential in the marathon.

However, a closer look at Bekele’s stats shows he is not as inconsistent as many believe. He has been on the start list of 18 marathons since his debut in 2014 and has been a DNF in five and DNS in one. However, he has still run 2:05 or quicker in every year other than 2018, 2020 and 2021, picking up three wins along the way and registering a best time of 2:01:41, only two seconds behind Kipchoge’s world record when he ran it at Berlin in 2019. Combined with his undoubted talent - his coach, Mersha Asrat, claimed he ran that near-world record time off just eight weeks of training - this consistency despite the setbacks shows that if Bekele can get it right, he could yet spring a surprise.

The Olympic Marathon in Paris will not be solely about Bekele and Kipchoge. Even without the presence of the new great of the marathon distance, Kelvin Kiptum, after his tragic death in a car accident at the end of last year, there are still a number of athletes who can arguably be considered bigger favourites for the race. But it is the battle of these two old foes that will excite the distance running world as August approaches.