Marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge urges Mo Farah not to retire as Brit's 40th birthday approaches

ByEurosport

Updated 02/10/2022 at 13:39 GMT

Mo Farah is approaching his 40th birthday and has raced just three times in the last seven years as he struggles with a series of niggles, but Eliud Kipchoge has urged the Briton not to retire. "Mo Farah has a lot more to give, I think he will come back stronger," said Kipchoge, who is determined to make more history himself after lowering his marathon time by 30 seconds in Berlin.

Mo Farah still has “a lot more give” to athletics as he approaches his 40th birthday, according to Eliud Kipchoge.

Farah has only raced seven times in three years and was forced to pull out of Sunday’s London Marathon with a hip injury.

Farah revealed that he had been feeling "pain and tightness" in his right hip over the past 10 days and that despite treatment, the issue "hasn't improved enough" to enable him to make the start line in Greenwich.

Athletics

Kipchoge finishes sixth at 2023 Boston Marathon in his slowest ever time

17/04/2023 at 17:01

The development is a blow to the 39-year-old Farah, who won the Big Half earlier this month and had been preparing for his fourth marathon appearance in London, and first tilt since 2019.

But marathon world record holder Kipchoge, who lowered his marathon time to 2hr 01 09 secs in Berlin, believes Farah “can still keep going”.

“I want to wish him a quick recovery from his injury,” said Kipchoge, who is in London to watch the marathon, per the Guardian.

• Jake Wightman sets personal best in Diamond League 800m victory
• Great Britain break 32 year record to take gold in 4x100m men's relay

“Injuries are part of the challenges of elite sport. My advice is to recover from your injury and come back.

“Mo Farah has a lot more to give. I think he will come back stronger. The training is there and after the injury he can come back and show the world what is actually in him.

“Age is a number. If you are training well and focused in the right direction on what you are doing, then you can continue to perform. Mo can still win the best races.”

After knocking half a minute off his marathon time in Berlin, Kipchoge believes he can run even faster in the 26.2 mile distance.

“I think there are still goals for me,” he said.

“I don’t want to say if I can run under two hours in an official race but I’ll try to still beat the world record.”

Kipchoge was asked to give his opinion on the greatest distance athlete of all time after Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele stressed that he should be regarded as No 1.

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge celebrates after winning the Berlin Marathon race on September 25, 2022 in Berlin. - Kipchoge has beaten his own world record by 29 seconds, running 2:01:10 at the Berlin Marathon

Image credit: Getty Images

Kenenisa has three Olympic gold medals, 17 world championship titles and multiple world records to his name.

“I agree that Kenenisa is the best of all time,” Kipchoge said. “He has a lot of medals in cross country, track, Olympics, and he has done well in the marathon. I agree he is the best.

“He has been a positive role model to me and the whole generation. He has won so much on track, winning gold medals in Olympics, world championships and cross country.

"He is really a role model.”

Tokyo 2020

Watch out Tokyo, Kipchoge’s not done yet

20/04/2021 at 10:10

Olympic Games Paris 2024

'I'm devastated' - Sawyers to miss Paris Olympics over Achilles injury

13 hours ago