"This is my worst Marathon": Eliud Kipchoge announces end of his legendary Olympic career after registering career first-DNF at Paris Olympics

Eliud Kipchoge called his latest Olympic marathon feat his 'worst marathon' and announced retirement after failing to defend his Olympic title at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Considered one of the greatest marathon runners, Kipchoge held the world record from 2018 to 2023 and won the marathon titles in the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In Rio, Eliud Kipchoge won the marathon in 2:08:44 and the 70-second winning margin between him and second-finisher Feyisa Lilesa was the largest since the 1972 Olympic Marathon. His monumental achievement made him the second Kenyan male to win an Olympic gold.

In Tokyo, he defended his title in 2:08:38 and won by an 80-second margin, the largest in 49 years. He vied for the gold at the Paris Olympics as well, in a quest to achieve his third consecutive Olympic gold. But he struggled to keep up with the pace, thus pulling out after crossing the 30km mark in 1:39:38 in the Olympic marathon finals.

He faced the first DNF of his life and was escorted in a van midway through the competition. In an interview with Olympics.com, Eliud Kipchoge called his latest feat as the 'worst marathon' of his life since he never received a DNF before.

"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," he said.

He also officially drew a line to his storied career, sharing that he 'will never run'.

"You will see me in a different way, maybe giving people motivation, but I will not run," he added.

Eliud Kipchoge wants to explore other things after his marathon career

The 39-year-old former world record holder hasn't decided what to do next in life. But he is open to exploring and featuring in other things but athletics while reflecting on his 21 years of sprinting career.

"I need to go back [home], sit down, try to figure my 21 years of running at high level. I need to evolve and feature in other things," he said (via Olympics.com)

Eliud Kipchoge set the junior world record in the 5000m at the 2023 World Cross Country Championships, learning his first World title. He has five World Marathon Major Series champion titles and became the first person to do a sub-2-hour marathon in Vienna, in 2019. The same year, he received the honor of BBC World Sport Star of the Year.