The race that never was, the rivalry that never would be.
Sunday's London Marathon may have been missing the masses, but that did not stop it being one of the most anticipated marathon events in history, with 40 athlete competing in an enclosed biosphere in St James Park. Two athletes in particular attracted significant attention and in ways that seem forced, contrived, and often, unnecessary, were pitted against one another, Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele.
In an interview with Jake Humphries, the pair were once again pitted against one another.
From the outset, the interview was set up to place the runners as rivals. The tone of Humphries' voice was divisive, as if a fight was what was being discussed, not a marathon. Then, he opened to journalists, in a zoom call. The journalists who were from western media outlets seemed familiar with this style of hyping up a sport event using rivalries.
Early questions were light, relating to the course and how its lapped route could lead to a record or at least a fast time for London. Even early on, the admiration for each other was shown when asked what trait each athlete respected about the other. KB "I respect him as an athlete. We have both been disciplined for a long time now. We are role models for young generations and are motivating young generations. As an athlete I have big respect for Eliud also. What he did is a really great thing for the sport. We are racing each other. We are from the same management, I am happy" EK "I respect the humanity. I respect the success. I respect the mentality of Kenenisa being able to train and be disciplined. Above all, I respect the conscience.
Later, the interview became more contrived and the rivalry became forced. When Bekele was asked about the pacing, he honestly did not know what the pace would be. He said he could guess but that it had not been agreed. Humphries responded "I like that, keeping you cards close to your chest" as if Kenenisa had secret plans. Bekele dismissed this and both Kipchoge and himself laughed it off.
This all seemed rather contrived. These are the two fastest marathon runners ever and it is easy to assume that would mean they are out to get one another. That could not be more wrong, and the disconnect between them and the media was not just physically distanced, as Humphries kept referring to the event as a huge head to head. These are modest, mindful, and intelligent athletes that have nothing but respect and admiration for each other as sportsmen and as beings.
Both athletes have been based in Kaptagat where athletes working with NN Running and Global Communications live and train. Here, these athletes live modestly, simply and are focussed. They work together to run faster, Kipchoge recently highlighted this when stating that "100% of me is nothing compared to 1% of the whole team", including Bekele.
Next week we turn attention to trail running and hear from elite trail runners who have replaced races with time trials, and trails for track!