Who are the marathon GOATs? 

From Olympic gold medallists, World Marathon champions, and world record holders, to major city race winners: The marathon kings and queens include some of the greatest ever distance-running stars.

Athletics is all about fast times and firsts, and marathon running is full of them.

But who are the marathon GOATS? What are the parameters you feel decide this eternal debate? We take a look at the records, most successful players and stats.

Below, we cast a spotlight at some of the top male and female marathoners in history. the 42.2km (26.2 mile) distance.

Men - Eliud Kipchoge

Eliud Kipchoge is considered the greatest marathoner of all time. And it’s easy to see why.

He is the only man to hold both the official and unofficial marathon world records.

On 25 September 2022 at the age of 37 he set a new official record of 2 hours, 1 minute, and 9 seconds for the distance to set a men's world record. In doing so he broke his own world record set in September 2018 of 2:01.39.

No other man has come close to the two-hour barrier for the marathon, which he broke in a special run in 2019 for an unofficial record.

The Kenyan legend is the third man in history to clinch two Olympic marathon titles, and he's aiming for a third at the Paris 2024 Games. His incredible feats also include a seven-year unbeaten record that stretched over 11 races.

Kipchoge, a 2019 Chicago marathon champ is also a three-time London and Berlin Marathon winner. The 38-year-old’s list of achievements continues to grow.

Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie is considered one of the greatest distance runners in history, having won titles and set world records across track and road races.

The double Olympic champion over 10,000m made his debut at the marathon distance in London in 2002, finishing third.

But the Ethiopian was most successful in Berlin where he started five times, won four, and broke the world record there twice.

Of the nearly 30 official and unofficial records he broke in his 23-year career, he described the marathon records as his most cherished.

Abebe Bikila

Abebe Bikila was a pioneer in marathon running. At the Rome 1960 Olympics, while running barefoot, the Ethiopian pounded the cobblestones of the roman roads to win gold in world record time. It was the first time a Black African had topped the 42.195km race at the Games.

After ‘the greatest marathon in 64 years of the Olympic history,’ Bikila became the first runner to win two Olympic marathons by winning another gold at Tokyo 1964.

It was yet another world record win. This time he wore shoes.

The world record list has been rewritten several times since then but his finishing time from Rome 1960 still stands as a Guinness World Record: “The fastest marathon run in bare feet is 2 hr 15 min 16.2 sec at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Italy, on 10 September 1960.”

Waldemar Cierpinski, Samuel Wanjiru, and more

Or how about Waldemar Cierpinski who matched Bikila’s two Olympic marathon gold medals. Like the Ethiopian, he was unknown going into his first Olympics in Montreal. The East German surprised the classy field to win his first of two Olympic marathons. He successfully defended his Olympic title at the Moscow 1980 Games.

There is also Gezahegne Abera, the first person to accomplish an Olympics - World Championship marathon double. The Ethiopian won gold at Sydney 2000 and at the 2001 World Championships.

Let's not forget Samuel Wanjiru? He was the first Kenyan to win the Olympic marathon title, and did so in Beijing with an Olympic record time of 2:06:32, which still stands as the OR. The gold medal from Beijing 2008, aged only 22, also made him the youngest ever Olympic marathon champ since 1932. He also won both the London and Chicago marathons in record times in 2019.

There is also British runner Jim Peters, who broke the world record four times in the 1950s and ran the first sub 2:20 marathon.

More Kenyans also make the list: Abel Kirui, the back-to-back winner in the World Championships in 2009 and 2011, Martin Lel, three-time London marathon winner and double New York marathon champ between 2003 and 2008, and Robert Cheruiyot, the former world record holder and four-time Boston marathon champion.

Women - Catherine Ndereba

Catherine Ndereba achieved greatness and even had it inscribed in her name. Years after her last race, the Kenyan’s is still known as ‘Catherine the Great Ndereba’ because of her history and the successes she achieved in her marathon career.

Her consistency and top shape over the marathon distance for over a decade was unrivalled.

She is a two-time world marathon champion (2003 and 2007), two-time Olympic silver medallist at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, holds two Chicago marathon titles, one of which she won in world record time at the 2001 edition, and is a four-time Boston marathon champ.

Rosa Mota

The first Portuguese runner to clinch an Olympic gold was Rosa Mota in the women’s marathon at Seoul 1988. Mota then became the first woman to win multiple Olympic marathon medals when she added bronze at Los Angeles 1984.

The three-time European marathon gold medallist was also the first woman to be the reigning European, World, and Olympic champion at the same time.

Grete Waitz

The women’s marathon list must include Grete Waitz, the first woman in history to complete a marathon in under two and a half hours, taking two minutes off the previous time.

The Norwegian marathoner set the world record at the 1978 New York City marathon, although the course was later found to be 151 meters short of the full marathon distance. She went on to win the race unprecedented nine times to prove her greatness, and also won the London marathon twice including a legal world record time of 2:24:25 in 1986, as she racked up 12 marathon major wins.

The 1984 Olympic silver medallist also won a world marathon title in addition to her five world titles in cross-country races.

Tegla Loroupe

Lots of firsts already, and our next great, Tegla Loroupe is full of them too. The Kenyan legend was the first African woman to set a marathon world record, which she held for three years from 1998.

Running her first major marathon in New York, the marathon pioneer won the 1994 race, again becoming the first African woman to top an American road race. She clinched the New York City marathon twice, and also triumphed in London, Berlin, and Rome.

Radcliffe, Kosgei, and more

Another marathon legend is Paula Radcliffe, a former women’s world record holder from her 2003 London race, a time which stood for 16 years.

The celebrated British long-distance runner won the London and New York City marathons three times each, and topped the podium at the Chicago marathon in 2002.

Radcliffe’s world record was broken by Kenyan Brigid Kosgei, the Olympic silver medallist from Tokyo 2020. Kosgei took the 2019 Chicago marathon for the second time in a world record time of 2:14:04, which is still the fastest marathon time ever recorded by a female runner. The same year she became the youngest ever winner at the London marathon, a race she has won twice.

Kosgei follows in the footsteps of her other great compatriots Mary Keitany, a former world record holder who still holds the fastest time for a women-only race. She's also a four-time New York marathon champion and three-time London winner, and Edna Kiplagat, the double world marathon gold medallist who is still running strong at 42, looking to add to her wins in New York, Boston, and London.

Or how about Joan Benoit, winner of the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics?

It's a hard choice...