“I still want to win all the majors”

Kenyan spoke about running Berlin for the sixth time to journalists and needled Kelvin Kiptum

Eliud Kipchoge gave an interview to a limited number of journalists following the announcement that he would run the Berlin Marathon again this year. I did not participate in this interview, but the journalist Jonathan Gaultfrom the website Letsrun published much of it and here, I made a free translation of the main points.

For those who don’t remember, Kipchoge has already won the race four times and in two of them, he broke the world record, the last one being last year, when he won with 2:01:09. He talks about what happened in Boston, explains why he’s coming back to Berlin, takes a jab at Kelvin Kiptum, says he still wants to win all the majors and is thinking about doing three marathons a year to run in different places.

ABOUT BOSTON

“You don’t have control over what happened in the past, but you can control what you have in your hands and plan for the future.”

“I have no control over what happened in April in Boston. It’s no use dwelling on it. I can control what is happening now and prepare for Berlin.”

“That (leg problem) was really a problem and I’m totally fine about it, I’m training well, I’m in good health.

ON GOING FOR THIRD OLYMPIC GOLD IN PARIS

I would be the first man to win the Games three times in a row. I really want to do this. It would be really historic.

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ABOUT GOING BACK TO BERLIN

“The good organization and the calendar is what makes Berlin a good race to prepare for next year. I believe that with this date, September, it is good time to run Berlin, come back, start over and have enough time to train.”

“In Berlin I feel at home. I will go there for the sixth time. I think the streets of Berlin love me and that’s why I’m coming back. Anyway, it ends up being preparation for Paris next year and I realized that if there is a race where I can go back to Kenya and prepare for a good race, that race is Berlin.”

ABOUT KELVIN KIPTUN

“Kelvin Kiptum has the power to do whatever he wants. I’ve done enough. I believe that what I have done in the world will be respected. Anyway, I wish him all the best. But I intend to have a good and beautiful race in Berlin. I want to enjoy my sixth time. I want to do a good race and cross the finish line celebrating.”

“I’m in no rush at all because I’m the one who ran under 2 hours. If Kiptun runs under two hours, he’ll be second to do it. I was first so I’m not worried about that.”

ON WINNING THE SIX MAJORS

“The six majors are still on my list. I decided to go back to Berlin because I have a big assignment next year, but they are still on my mind and I still want to complete all six. I still want to win them all and write my name on all six of them.”

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ABOUT TAKING YOUR FOOT

“I’m not going to take my foot off and run just one marathon a year. I’m considering running three in the future because I would like to branch out and race in other countries, other big cities, sell the sport world, sell our sport and ask people to help me make our world, the racing world. So I think in the future I might add one more marathon to run three a year.”