Kenyan Marathon great and two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge has opened up on the struggles he endured following the death of reigning Marathon World Record Holder, the late Kelvin Kiptum.
Kipchoge while speaking in an interview with BBC Sport Africa could not hold down his emotions when he revealed that he feared for the lives of his family during a campaign of online abuse that wrongly linked him to the death of Kiptum.
Following the death of Kiptum in a car crash in February 2024, some social media users began to speculate that Kipchoge was part of a conspiracy to kill the marathon record holder.
Kiptum had made a legacy for himself by achieving a remarkable fete of lowering the world’s fastest marathon time to two hours and 35 seconds last October in the Chicago Marathon.
“I was shocked that people on social media platforms are saying ‘Eliud is involved in the death of this boy’. That was my worst news ever in my life. I received a lot of bad things; that they will burn the training camp, they will burn my investments in town, they will burn my house, they will burn my family,” said Kipchoge.
Also Read: Kipchoge Speaks on Retirement Plans Ahead of Paris Olympics
“It did not happen but that is how the world is.”
Kipchoge gets emotional
According to him, his worst moment in the period came when he called his mother who in turn told him to take care amid the circulating rumors.
Eliud disclosed that his initial reaction when he saw the fake rumors and abuse was to check whether his family were safe.
“Where I come from is a really local area. And with the age of my mum, I really realized that social media could go everywhere. But she gave me courage. It was really a tough month,” he said.
Also Read: Kipchoge Breaks Silence After Kiptum Burial, Pays Tribute
“I started to call a lot of people. I got really scared of my children going to school and coming back. Sometimes they bike around, but we had to stop them because you never know what will happen. We started to drop them off and pick them up in the evening,” he added.
While defending his decision to avoid taking precautions for his own safety, the reigning Olympic Marathon champion said that he saw no meaning to change training venues.
He argued that he found it difficult to go into hiding because being an athlete means that one has to go outside and run.
Eliud further disclosed that he lost about 90% of his friends amid the wrongful link to Kiptum’s accident and online abuse.
“It was really painful for me to learn even from my own people, my training mates, those who I have contact with, and the bad words are coming from them. I was really down to see that,” he added.
Impact on Performance
While highlighting the impact and role played by the online abuse on his performance, Kipchoge said he believes it affected his performance in competition.
He revealed that he didn’t sleep for three days while in Tokyo, Japan for the March 3 Tokyo Marathon in which he finished 10th, his lowest finish since his debut in 2013.
However, the only man to have run a marathon under two hours said welcomed and said he was hopeful following a move by the International Olympic Committee against online abuse.
The IOC in its strategic plan said that it plans to “respond proactively and at scale” to safeguard athletes from online abuse during Paris 2024.
Kipchoge is looking forward to retaining his Olympic gold medal a was named in Kenya’s marathon team for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
According to him, he is now focused on creating more history at the Games as he aims to win a third successive gold medal.
Kipchoge was named among the athletes selected to represent Kenya in the upcoming Paris Olympics which also features reigning Tokyo Marathon Champion Benson Kipruto and former London Marathon Champion Alex Mutiso.
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