Kenenisa vs Eliud London Marathon showdown confirmed for 4th October
The long-awaited head-to-head between Ethiopia’s long-distance great, Kenenisa Bekele, and Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge will take place on Sunday 4th October 2020, after months of intensive work and consultation with London’s authorities.
There will be no mass participation due to COVID-19 but the elite races for men, women, and wheelchair athletes will take place on an enclosed looped course in St James’s Park in a secure biosphere and times will be eligible for Olympic qualification.
Defending champion, Eliud Kipchoge, who became the first man to run a sub-two-hour marathon in an unofficial race in Vienna last October, is seeking a record fifth London title.
He holds the official world record of two hours, one minute, 39 seconds – two seconds faster than Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, who has three Olympic and five world championship golds over 10,000 and 5,000 metres, distances over which he still holds the world record.
There will be no spectator access to maintain the biosphere but BBC Sport will broadcast coverage during the day.
In 2021, the London Marathon will move from its usual April date to Sunday 3rd October to give the best chance for the mass race returning in 2021.
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