Kipchoge is considered to be one of the greatest long-distance runners ever, and he broke the previous record by more than one minute.
Eliud Kipchoge, the reigning Olympic champion marathon runner, set a world record at the Berlin Marathon on Sunday, clocking a total time of 2 hours 1 minute 39 seconds and breaking the previous record by more than a minute.
Kipchoge is considered to be one of the greatest long-distance runners ever, and many expected him to set a record at the Berlin race, which he had won twice before, in 2015 and 2017. He smiled as he ran toward the finish line, his arms stretched wide as he crossed it.
Kipchoge broke the record for the 26.2-mile race held by a fellow Kenyan, Dennis Kimetto. Kimetto set the record in 2014 at 2 hours 2 minutes 57 seconds.
The youngest of four children, Kipchoge grew up in Kapsisiywa, a small village in Nandi County. His mother worked as a teacher. His father died when he was very young. As a child, he jogged to get to and from school.
[Read our profile of Eliud Kipchoge, the most decorated marathoner on the planet]
Kipchoge, 33, lives in Eldoret, Kenya, with his wife and three children, and splits time between there and a training camp up in the hills, 8,000 feet above sea level. He has a meticulous training regimen, waking up at 5 a.m. to run.
He has already earned a number of accolades. In 2003, when he was 18, Kipchoge won a world championship when he out-sprinted Hicham El Guerrouj in the 5,000 meters at Stade de France outside Paris. El Guerrouj was then the world-record holder in the mile.
Kipchoge won a bronze Olympic medal in 2004 in the 5,000 meters and silver in 2008. He won his marathon debut in Hamburg in the spring of 2013 running 2:05:30.
In 2016, he won a gold medal. Last year, on a racecar track in Italy, Kipchoge ran a marathon in less than two hours.
