With the 2025 New York Metropolis Marathon lower than 10 days away, a well-known face has been added to the boys’s skilled subject.
Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, One of many Best Distance Runners in Historical past, Will replel 2022 Nyc Marathon Champion Evans Chebet on the boys’s begin checklist, establishing what may very well be a ultimate showdown together with his longtime rival, Eliud Kipchoge.
Breaking Information 🚨 They meet once more! Kenenisa Bekele 🇪🇹 & Eliud Kipchoge 🇰🇪 to compete 🔥 at 2025 New York Metropolis Marathon 👇🏾
♦️Bekele has been confirmed at this time for the race.
♦️Date: Sunday, November 2, 2025. pic.twitter.com/GSIhDmaMAO
— Kenya One Sports activities 🇰🇪 (@TonnyKe11) October 24, 2025
The 2 legends have confronted one another 5 occasions over the marathon distance, with Kipchoge holding a 4–1 edge. Bekele’s solely victory got here most not too long ago on the 2024 Paris Olympics, the place he completed thirty ninth in 2:12:24, whereas Kipchoge dropped out on account of a hip situation.
The rivalry between Kipchoge and Bekele stretches past simply marathoning. The 2 first raced twenty years in the past on the 2003 Bislett Video games in Oslo. That day, a 21-year-old Bekele held off an 18-year-old Kipchoge by three-tenths of a second to win the boys’s 5,000m in 12:52.26. Later that summer season on the 2003 World Championships in Paris, Kipchoge obtained his revenge, profitable gold within the 5,000m forward of Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj and Bekele, who needed to accept bronze.
On the monitor, Bekele largely dominated their head-to-heads, beating Kipchoge in 11 of 13 conferences over 5,000m and 10,000m. However as soon as each athletes transitioned to the roads, the momentum shifted. Kipchoge turned the king of the marathon, holding the world file twice earlier than his late compatriot Kelvin Kiptum broke the two:01 barrier on the 2023 Chicago Marathon, and nonetheless holds the file to today.
Extra not too long ago, nevertheless, Bekele has proven flashes of resurgence. On the 2024 London Marathon, he ran 2:04:15 to set a brand new males’s masters (40+) world file and proved he’s nonetheless able to operating world-class occasions. Between them, Bekele and Kipchoge personal 5 Olympic gold medals, six world championship titles, 13 Abbott World Marathon Main victories and three of the 5 quickest marathon occasions in historical past.
Although each males are effectively previous their primes, the mutual respect between them runs deep. In a 2020 interview with Athletics WeeklyBekele stated he has quite a lot of respect for Kipchoge and what he has executed for the game. “We’re racing one another, and I’m pleased about it.” Kipchoge echoed Bekele’s feedback, saying he respects his humanity, his success and his mentality.
The final time Bekele ran the New York Metropolis Marathon was in 2021, when he positioned sixth in 2:06:47. For Kipchoge, this may mark his first look on the race, as he continues his private quest to finish all seven Abbott World Marathon Majors. New York is his ultimate cease, coming almost eight weeks after he ran the TCS Sydney Marathon.
With Father Time closing in, Nov. 2’s New York Metropolis Marathon might mark the ultimate chapter in one in all distance operating’s storied rivalries, which might be a becoming stage for 2 icons who’ve outlined an period.
Eliud Kipchoge and Sifan Hassan to headline 2025 New York Metropolis Marathon
