Let Kipchoge be; he’s not a ‘limping G.O.A.T’

Readers are often compelled into buying certain newspapers based on their catchy, hilarious and sometimes anger-provoking headlines. With the advent of technology, many readers are now accessing information via smartphones.

Unlike in the past, when editors and sub editors used to coin a single headline that would sell their printed copies, technology has offered a window where they can frame multiple subheadings with eye-catching phrases. The news or articles are then posted online as single feeds through official social media handles.

Last week, “Eliud Kipchoge: The Limping G.O.A.T” (Nation.Africa, August 29, 2024) was such a striking heading, but the printed copy of the same article had, for lack of a better word, a friendlier headline: “King-choge’s dilemma: To retire or still hang on?” (Daily Nation, August, 30, 2024).

However, even after reading the printed copy, which highlighted some of his accomplishments while calling out those who are trolling him online, one would still wonder if it is right to characterise a hero who has dedicated more than two decades of his life to sports as a “limping G.O.A.T.”.

Kipchoge is the 2016 and 2020 Olympics marathon champion and was the record holder between 2018 and 2023. Of the 19 marathons he has competed in, Kipchoge has 15 victories. He has lost three and failed to finish one. No other athlete under the sun has ever come closer to this, making him the greatest marathoner of all time.

'No human is limited'

After participating and winning in some of the world’s major marathons, Kipchoge started to sound philosophical: Why do people run? Can running be used to challenge the human mind and the body? From this point, his career as an athlete took a different trajectory.

It was not about competing with fellow athletes anymore, but “pushing the human body beyond limits”. After failing in his first attempt to break the sub-two-hour barrier in 2016 in Milan-Italy, Kipchoge attained his dream in 2019 in Vienna, Austria. 

With this achievement, he demonstrated to humanity that with discipline, perseverance, and hard work, everything is achievable as exemplified by his mantra, “No human is limited”. There is no doubt that he is an inspiration to many athletes, who now believe that running the 42Km race in under two hours is a possibility.

The marathoner is more than just a sportsman; he is an inspiration to many; he is immortalised in murals, graffiti on the streets and public transportation vehicles, billboards and sculptures like the one at the Nike headquarters in Oregon, USA.

It is a fact that Kipchoge is aging, and just like any other being, his body is beginning to slow down. Since his quest to run is driven by the desire to motivate humanity, “King-choge”, like a rolling stone, should be allowed to race until he comes to a natural halt. He does not owe anybody a retirement.

Let us give him a break and let him be.

Mr Chumo is an educational research, evaluation and assessment expert and a physics teacher. [email protected]