Kenya’s Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge has urged his fellow athletes to stay strong and keep hope alive as the world struggles to deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Be patient, think positive and respect the authorities’ directives,” was the main thrust of the message given by Kipchoge during a series of webinars organized by Athlete365.
The world record-holder and Olympic champion in the marathon made history in October 2019 in Vienna, Austria by running the first sub-two-hour marathon.
After becoming 5,000m world champion in 2003, he won two Olympic medals at Athens 2004 (bronze) and Beijing 2008 (silver), before reaching the top of the podium at Rio 2016 with a dominant performance and recording the largest margin of victory at the Games for 44 years.
The 35-year-old Kenyan superstar was gearing up for Tokyo 2020 to defend his marathon title this summer before the coronavirus pandemic struck.
“When the pandemic started, personally I was in shock,” Kipchoge explained during the webinar. “Some events were postponed, including the London Marathon and the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, followed by a general lockdown in Kenya.”
“I said to myself that this is a big challenge, but I am a marathoner, and the marathon is like life,” he continued. “We have many courses in the world – flat courses, uphill and downhill – and this period of COVID-19 is like an uphill course, where we need to live in a slow way, in a positive way, in order to finish the race well.”
Responding to questions about his training that came through during the webinar, moderated by Olympian and broadcaster Jeanette Kwakye, Kipchoge revealed that he has maintained a strict training regime during lockdown.
He has adjusted his programme to focus more on strength work and long runs rather than speed and tactics, as he continues to communicate with his coach, Patrick Sang, via WhatsApp.
Showcasing the power of athletes to be positive role models during this global health crisis, Kipchoge revealed that he has been working with the Kenyan government and enlisting his sponsors to deliver food packages to lower-level athletes in Kenya, who cannot earn any revenue by participating in races abroad.
Many questions came in from participants during the half-hour webinar about topics such as nutrition and mental strength, and also about the lessons Eliud has learned from living in lockdown.
“Lesson number one is that we can travel the whole world, but the most important thing is your family,” he responded. “You need to go back to your family and take care of your family. That’s one thing that lockdown has reminded me. They are still my motivation to go out at 5 a.m. for a run.”
“Secondly, we need to be patient. And thirdly, we need to respect the directives of our local governments, and of the whole world. Altogether, if we think positive then we can beat COVID-19 and the world will return to normal.
“My advice is simple: plan well, prepare well, and set your priorities right. Let’s think positive and live in a positive way,” he concluded.