Kenya world champion Eliud Kipchoge dropped out of Saturday’s men’s marathon around the 31K mark.
Today’s race was Kipchoge’s chance to be the first man to win the Olympic marathon three times in a career. His other Olympic marathon wins came in the Rio Olympics in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.
“Today was a tough day at the office,” Kipchoge said about failing to finish the race. “You can train for a very long time but one day, it can happen. It’s like boxing. You can go to a training camp for five months and be knocked out in two seconds. But life will continue.”
Wearing a cooling headband for what was going to end up being a warm day, the race started relatively cool in the lower 60s on a clear day in Paris.
Kipchoge hung with the lead pack for the first 15K until the notoriously challenging Paris Olympic Marathon hills started slowing paces.
