Eliud Kipchoge named to his fifth Kenyan Olympic team
Boston Marathon runner-up Sharon Lokedi was named as a reserve in the final Kenyan Olympic marathon team selection

Athletics Kenya has announced the three men and women who will represent the East African distance running powerhouse in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge will head to his fifth Olympic Games for Kenya, aiming to win his third consecutive gold medal in the marathon.
Kipchoge, 39, will become the oldest Kenyan track and field athlete to compete at an Olympics and the first Kenyan in any sport to compete in five different Olympic Games: Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. He attempted to qualify for the men’s 10,000m at London 2012 but did not make the team, finishing seventh at the Kenyan trials.
Final Marathon Team.
Men.1. Eliud Kipchoge
2. Benson Kipruto
3. Alex Mutiso
Reserve- Timothy KiplagatFinal Women’s Team
1. Peres Jepchirchir
2. Hellen Obiri
3. Brigid KosgeiReserve- Sharon Lokedi#TeamKenya #athletickskenya #ParisOlympics2024 pic.twitter.com/WqloFvQmr5
— Athletics Kenya (@athletics_kenya) May 1, 2024
If Kipchoge wins gold in Paris on August 10, he will become the first athlete to win three Olympic marathon titles.
“I always say the Olympic dream is a special dream,” Kipchoge posted on social media after the team was announced Wednesday. “The Olympic Games is what we all dream of as little kids starting out with our sport and is what motivates us the most today. I am beyond proud to be selected for the Kenyan team for the fifth time.”
In his most recent marathon on March 3 (the Tokyo Marathon), Kipchoge finished 10th.
Kipchoge will be joined by 2021 Boston Marathon champion Benson Kipruto, who has a personal best of 2:02:16 and has finished in the top three in his last seven marathons. Kipruto is regarded as one of the best tactical marathoners in the world, and the challenging Paris course aligns well with his racing style. The third athlete named to the men’s team is Alexander Mutiso, who’s coming off an impressive 2:04:01 victory at the 2024 London Marathon last week.

Kenya boasts so much depth that Evans Chebet, who won Boston, New York City, and Boston in three consecutive marathon starts in 2022 and 2023, did not make the team. The second-place finisher from the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, Timothy Kaplagat, will serve as the men’s reserve.
Hellen Obiri headlines the women’s squad
Back-to-back Boston Marathon champion Hellen Obiri leads the women’s Kenyan marathon squad. This will be Obiri’s fourth Olympic Games and her first in the marathon event. She has previously secured two Olympic silver medals over 5,000m (at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020).
Obiri is expected to be the favourite to win gold in Paris, being undefeated in her last three marathons and demonstrating her ability to distance herself from competitors in the final miles. Her most formidable competition domestically will be the reigning Olympic marathon champion, Peres Jepchirchir.

Jepchirchir is coming off a victory at the 2024 London Marathon in a women-only world record time of 2:16:16, the fastest time of her career. Similar to Kipruto on the men’s team, Jepchirchir excels in the final five miles. She has secured top-three finishes in her last seven marathons, winning six of them.
Completing the Kenyan team is former women’s world record holder Brigid Kosgei, who finished second to her compatriot Jepchirchir at the Tokyo Olympics. Kosgei’s recent results include a fifth-place finish at the London Marathon, fourth place at the 2023 New York Marathon and a victory last December in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Sharon Lokedi was named as a reserve for the Kenyan women’s team. Lokedi won New York in 2022 and finished second and third to Obiri at Boston 2024 and NYC 2023, most recently. Although Kosgei has a faster personal best (2:14:04, Chicago 2019), Lokedi has shown better form in recent races.

The Paris 2024 Olympic marathon is scheduled for August 10-11, with the men’s race on the 10th and the women’s race on the following day. The marathon route will follow the path of the 1789 Women’s March on Versailles, honouring women and their role in one of the most historic events of the French Revolution.