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Marathon great Eliud Kipchoge opens up on his biggest career regret
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Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 05.11.25. | 21:40
Kipchoge last competed in the 5,000m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he won silver
Former world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge has opened up about his biggest career regret, as he bows out of professional running.
For an athlete of his caliber, one would think there is little left to regret.
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However, the Kenyan great admitted there is one distance that still tugs at his heart, the 5,000 meters.
“My biggest regret is that I did not win gold in the 5,000m. I always feel I missed the world record for 5,000 meters. I wish I could have done that, and maybe run a 10-kilometre world record on the road. In the marathon, I did not miss anything,” Kipchoge told Olympics.com.
Kipchoge last competed in the 5,000m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he won silver.
Four years earlier, at the 2004 Athens Games, he had announced himself on the global stage with a bronze medal in the same event.
However, the coveted Olympic gold over the distance remained elusive.
Kenya’s struggles in the men’s 5,000m stretch far beyond Kipchoge’s personal story.
Despite the nation’s rich distance-running legacy, it has been 36 years since John Ngugi’s historic gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the only time Kenya has ever topped the podium in this event since the modern Games began in 1912.
Legends like Kipchoge Keino (silver, 1968), Naftali Temu (bronze, 1968), Paul Bitok (silver, 1992 and 1996), Eliud Kipchoge (bronze, 2004; silver, 2008), and Thomas Longosiwa (bronze, 2012) have all graced the Olympic podium but none have matched Ngugi’s feat.
In recent editions, Kenya’s drought has only deepened.
Britain’s Mo Farah reigned supreme at both the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, while Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei took gold in Tokyo 2021 (the delayed 2020 Games). Kenya once again missed out on a medal.
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Ronald Kwemoi reignited some hope with a silver medal, clocking 13:15.04 behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who won gold in a new Olympic record of 13:13.66.
American Grant Fisher took bronze in 13:15.13.
Even with that glimmer of resurgence, Kenya’s struggles in the 5,000m continued, as they failed to medal again at the subsequent World Championships in Tokyo.
