Kipchoge ends three-year title drought with Melbourne course record

Eliud Kipchoge after winning the Nike Melbourne Marathon/ATHLETICS KENYAMarathon legend Eliud Kipchoge has won the Nike Melbourne Marathon Festival in Australia, setting a course record in the latest stop of his global running tour.

Kipchoge clocked 2:09:08 to claim victory.

The Melbourne race was the third stop on the five-time Olympic medallist’s Eliud World Tour, a series through which he aims to inspire people around the world to embrace running and promote the sport.

The victory adds to Kipchoge’s illustrious career, which includes two Olympic marathon gold medals and multiple major marathon titles.

Kipchoge is widely regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners in history, having become the first man to run a marathon in under two hours during the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna in 2019, although the time did not qualify as an official world record because the event was not run under standard race conditions.

Kipchoge’s victory at the Melbourne Marathon came after a mixed run of results at major races over the previous three years, including a win in Berlin, a 10th-place finish in Tokyo and a non-finish at the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon.

In September 2023, Kipchoge won the Berlin Marathon in 2:02:42, securing a record fifth title at the event. He finished 31 seconds ahead of fellow Kenyan Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich, who clocked 2:03:13.

However, he finished 10th at the Tokyo Marathon on March 3, 2024, in 2:06:50.

The race was won by Benson Kipruto in a course-record time of 2:02:16. According to World Athletics, the result was the lowest finish of Kipchoge’s marathon career at the time.

Kipchoge’s next major outing was the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon, where he failed to finish the race.

He returned to the London Marathon on April 27, 2025, finishing sixth in 2:05:25. Fellow Kenyan Sabastian Sawe won the race in 2:02:27.

Kipchoge’s marathon personal best remains 2:01:09, set at the Berlin Marathon on September 25, 2022. He is a two-time Olympic marathon champion, having won gold at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, held in 2021.

His Melbourne triumph adds another victory to a career that includes multiple major marathon titles and two Olympic gold medals.