This week in Olympic history: 4-10 November – Celebrating marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge's 40th birthday
Olympics.com explores the week in Olympic sports history, highlighting Olympians' birthdays and notable sporting events from 4 to 10 November.
Athletics
Welcome to This Week in Olympic History, where Olympics.com looks back on the most significant sporting events of the past. This week, we'll cover 4 to 10 November.
On this day – 5 November 1984: Eliud Kipchoge is born
This week is the 40th birthday of one of the greatest marathon runners of all time: Eliud Kipchoge.
Born on a Kenyan farm in the Nandi Country province, Kipchoge has represented Kenya at five different Olympic Games, only missing out on a medal at his most recent appearance at Paris 2024.
It was as a 19-year-old at Athens 2004 that he made his Olympic debut, already a world champion and adding bronze to his collection in the men’s 5000m event.
By then, the Kenyan was already established in the athletics world, but the very best was yet to come.
After upgrading his bronze to silver in the same event at Beijing 2008, Kipchoge won a first Olympic gold medal in the gruelling marathon at Rio 2016, by that point already a four-time World Marathon Majors champion.
Kipchoge continued to push the boundaries of long-distance running and, five years later in 2021, he became the third man to win multiple Olympic marathons with his gold at Tokyo 2020.
Among his other records, Kipchoge became the first man to run a sub-two hour marathon, though that is not recognised as a world record because it was not run under open marathon conditions.
Kipchoge twice held the official world marathon record where he even broke his own record by 30 seconds, holding the accolade for five years before it was broken by the late Kevin Kiptum.
Whether we will see him again on the Olympic marathon stage is still uncertain, but what is not in doubt is the enduring legacy that Kipchoge has defined throughout a glistening career.
Quote of the Week | Eliud Kipchoge, two-time Olympic marathon champion
“All the stories have been about quitting when you are up. I want to sell a new story.”
Notable Olympic birthdays: 4-10 November
- Damian Warner (Canada, Athletics, Olympic champion) born 4 November 1989
- Niccolo Campriani (Italy, Shooting, three-time Olympic champion) born 6 November 1987
- Marc Rosset (Switzerland, Tennis, Olympic champion) born 7 November 1970
- Yusup Abdusalomov (Tajikistan, Freestyle Wrestling, Olympic silver medallist) born 8 November 1977
- Penelope Heyns (South Africa, Swimming, two-time Olympic champion) born 8 November 1974
Penelope Heyns won two gold medals and a bronze for South Africa.
- Blanka Vlasic (Croatia, Athletics, two-time Olympic medallist) born 8 November 1983
- Dominique Maltais (Canada, Snowboard, two-time Olympic medallist) born 9 November 1980
- Wu Minxia (People's Republic of China, Diving, five-time Olympic champion) born 10 November 1985
- Mireia Belmonte (Spain, Swimming, four-time Olympic medallist) born 10 November 1990
- Andre De Grasse (Canada, Athletics, seven-time Olympic medallist) born 10 November 1994
Make sure to check back on Olympics.com next week for more sports and Olympic history.