Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele insisted that he still deserves to be considered the best distance runner in history despite last week’s Eliud Kipchoge’s world marathon record in Berlin.
Bekele paid tribute to his rival’s achievement over 26.2 miles, and he also made it clear that he should be considered without equal if performances on cross-country, track, and world records were taken into account.
During his spectacular career, Bekele has won three Olympic gold medals and 17 world titles in track, road, and cross-country. He also held the world record of the fastest athlete to cross the 5,000m and 10,000m for 15 and 16 years, respectively.
In 2020, Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei finally broke Bekele’s record, but even now, Bekele remains the second quickest athlete to cross 5,000m, 10,000m, and the marathon.
On asked about whether Kipchoge’s 02:01:09 run in Berlin made him the greatest. Bekele replied I do not want to put myself in the conversation, but what I did in Olympics, cross country, and world championships, for those competitions, of course, I am the best.
Moreover, he added with the marathon, I couldn’t achieve what everybody hoped, and somehow I failed in some marathon races. On the other hand, my marathon record also tells you something, I am second overall behind Eliud Kipchoge, and it was very close, only two seconds until last week.
In recent years, Bekele’s best performance in the marathon is 02:01:41, which came in 2019 in Berlin.
On Sunday, Bekele will now play in the London Marathon 2022, which could be the best opportunity for him to break records.
Bekele told reporters my fitness is good now, and I am expecting to get a good result, and I am here to win, and this is not an easy race, but my wish and plan are to win the race.
Bekele also offered his sympathies to Mo Farah, who suffered a hip injury and pulled out of the London Marathon.
Bekele said, I faced many years of injuries, and I know how it feels, especially at his age, and It’s not easy to come out from that, but if he is mentally and physically strong, then I am sure he will do better in the future.