NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 – On the second time of asking, Eliud Kipchoge finally achieved his life-long ambition of becoming the first man to run a marathon under two hours, something he equated to a maiden journey to the moon and back.
Kipchoge not only achieved his dream, but did so with an emphatic 19-second bargain as he clocked 1:59.40 in the Ineos Challenge on the streets of the Austrian capital Vienna early Saturday morning.
And to dance to his celebratory tunes, sporting royalty from all over the world joined in congratulating Kipchoge’s extra ordinary achievement, a success that has come after a strenuous four and a half months of work.
Goodnight Vienna pic.twitter.com/XIGb9zMcBU
— Eliud Kipchoge (@EliudKipchoge) October 12, 2019
From former England defender Rio Ferdinand to Liverpool midfielder James Milner, CAF president Ahmad Ahmad, Kenyan born British cycling legend Chris Froome, Former Arsenal and France skipper Patrick Vieira, all sporting royalty bowed in amazement at the historic feat.
“Unreal effort, takes some people longer to….. make a VAR decision,” the witty Milner tweeted after the race.
Congratulations, @EliudKipchoge! 👊 https://t.co/i7jaOjlE4x
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 12, 2019
“That‘s not #football but I extend all my congratulations to @EliudKipchoge for his historical 🏃🏿♂️performance on the #ViennaMarathon ! Unbelievable ! Once again, #Africa shows its skills and competences in #sport ! 👏🏾,” CAF boss Ahmad tweeted.
“For me, this is the most impressive sporting achievement in history. Absolutely moved to tears to be able to witness this in my lifetime. A sub-2hour marathon. To get perspective, go and try to run at 21kph for 300meters…. Incredible @EliudKipchoge & everyone behind @INEOS159,” British cyclist Mark Cavendish tweeted.
👑
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) October 12, 2019
“Eliud kipchoge inspired me totally today. 3:25sc in 1500m is very very possible,” world and commonwealth 1500m champion Elijah Manangoi said.
“Congratulations to @EliudKipchoge- sporting history made! Absolutely incredible!” English Premier League champions Manchester City tweeted.
It wasn’t just the shoe! heck, he won Berlin in 2:04:00 with his insoles sticking out the better part of the race!…its in the MAN,the WILL, the PROGRAM,the COACH!…#INEOS159 #Eliud159 pic.twitter.com/SqsXnfM4a2
— Geoffrey Kimani (@GeoffKimani) October 13, 2019
🇰🇪 I N C R E D I B L E 🇰🇪
0️⃣1️⃣:5️⃣9️⃣:4️⃣0️⃣
Forza @EliudKipchoge 👋pic.twitter.com/vUDH50Wegg
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) October 12, 2019
HISTORY… LEGEND
🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪 https://t.co/ozWfTcPAN5— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) October 12, 2019
