Eliud Kipchoge reckons a London Marathon world-record attempt is possible in 2020
SUPERHUMAN Eliud Kipchoge reckons he could break the official world record at the 2020 London Marathon.
And the world’s fastest marathon runner has told Mo Farah to return to road running after his Tokyo Olympics track exploits.
The Kenyan is in Aberdeen tonight (Sunday) to receive the World Sport Star of the Year Award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
This follows his incredible experiment in Vienna in October when he became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours.
SunSport can reveal he has signed up for the London Marathon on Sunday April 26, aiming for his fifth victory.
In his sights is his own course record of 2:02:37 and if training goes well, maybe even the IAAF world’s best of 2:01:39 set in Berlin in 2018.
Asked if the world record is achievable in London assuming conditions are right, he replied: “Absolutely. It’s possible.
“Vienna has given me the confidence, absolutely.
“I want to try to run a course record for London next year but it’s still early to say anything. There are still a lot of months to come, four or five months.
“I’m training at 10 or 20% so it’s hard to say I’ll do this or this.
“But hopefully maybe by mid-March I’ll know what I’ll be doing in London.”
Kipchoge ran 1:59.40 in the Austrian capital but the time was not recognised because he had pacemakers, ran behind a car and received drinks help.
The 35-year-old, who plans to run 20km on Christmas Day, insists his life has stayed the same since that historic feat.
He said: “I’m still the Eliud of before. The same Eliud as of October 11.
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“What changed is the mentality that everything can happen if you believe in yourself. That is the only change.
“I trust those who watched and those who got interested on social media and news apps have been inspired. I think they’ve changed their minds.”
There was controversy over the choice of footwear with claims the super-fast Nike Vaporfly trainers significantly benefited his marathon record attempts.
Kipchoge shrugged off the criticism, saying: “If you don’t believe you can run fast, even in the best shoes, you can’t do it.
“I thank Nike for the good shoes. They are doing a great job.
“There are 10 teams in Formula One, with the great engines, and the great tyres from Pirelli but only Lewis Hamilton is winning.
“Why? Because he is focused and he’s a very good professional driver. I met him in Abu Dhabi and realised that to win it’s not the tyres, it’s the person.”
Britain’s Farah, 36, has announced he will run the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics next summer after ending his two-year marathon hopes.
Kipchoge, yet to commit himself to the Olympics, said: “If the decision is to go back to track, then that’s the best.
“He’ll come back in a big way after the 10,000m at the Olympics. He can run very well in the marathon.”